Sarah
by Cypress16
Summary: Prom was her last happy memory. Instead of college, it had been four years of fear, terror, a struggle for survival in a new alien controlled world. First with a group of friends, losing them in one betrayal, then it was just her and her brother. Him gone, now she was alone. Hungry and hurt, no one left to help her, to care about her, with only her determination to survive, until.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 **

Sarah's small form lay hidden under a sweet smelling flowering bush. She didn't notice the beauty of the plant or its pleasant fragrance. Her steel blue eyes were fixed on the cottage across the field from her. Sweat beaded on her pale feverous brow. Her dirty greasy light brown hair lay plastered to her head. Tangled in sweat and grime, it splayed over her shoulders and across her back. A rolling growl of hunger reminded her of just one of her list of issues that together made up the totality of her current predicament. She was alone now. Josh had been gone for sixteen days. She knew the likely scenario, caught, a bug stuck in the back of his head or dead, same thing. The vision, she wished would go away, flashed in her mind. She had watched him enter a house off in the distance as she exited her assigned target with her meager spoils, suddenly, lights and the vague sound of shouts, then the eerie quiet. He didn't return to their rendezvous spot. She waited, watched, hoped. Her brother, her partner, her last lifeline in this world of fear and terror, never returned. Then she did as they agreed. She ran. Take what she could carry and find a different hiding place … that was what they had agreed. A place he wouldn't find her. A place that his memories could not betray her to the bug the seekers would put in his head. They didn't want the betrayal of one person's memories to be repeated. That was the plan they had agreed to for the worst case scenario.

She drove the thoughts from her mind and refocused on the cottage. When was the bug going to leave? Without thinking, she moved slightly in an attempt to get more comfortable and the immediate flash of pain up her leg remaindered her of the other major issue for her. The ragged gash in her leg was causing increasing pain and now the fever. The hand holding the twisted branch she used as a make shift crutch tightened its grip in response to the pain. A slight gasp escaped her lips and she clenched her teeth.

She knew her plan to 'rob' this cottage for food was dangerous, too dangerous. There was little other choice. Driven by hunger, she had pushed her fear aside and approached 'civilization' again … the bug definition of civilization. The injured leg prevented any further travel to look for a safer easier target. This was it, her only option, her last option. She had tried to stretch the few supplies she had left after Josh… When they were gone she survived on what berries and roots she dared try. Four days ago, she made a mistake and paid for it with hours of vomiting up what little nourishment her stomach had held. The fall and the gash in her leg were later that same day. She knew she was running out of time. Weak from the lack of food and now her leg and the fever she knew it caused … well, she didn't want to think about the future.

In the decreasing light of approaching dusk, she focused on the faint sound of a door and then movement from the front of the cottage. Finally, it was leaving, just as she hoped. It would be crazy to try to sneak in while it slept, but there would have been no other options. So, with relief, she watched attentively as it walked down the dirt driveway and out on to the narrow rural road. Once the bug was out of sight, she gave it another five minutes. She prayed it was going for a long walk or whatever the fuck the damn thing left to do, just so she had time to get some food. She knew she should wait longer, but in her desperation she started to get up. Blinding pain, stiffness and general weakness almost brought her back to the ground. The sheer force of will propelled her to her feet. Angling her approach to her target, she kept the cottage between her and the road. Her pace was a steady toiling trial, but still much too slow in her mind. The minutes in the open were mental agony. The leg was physical agony.

She reached the back steps. Clinging to the rail, she rested for as long as she dared before starting up the few steps to the door. Each step was a slow torture. Again, she paused to catch her breath, then pulled on the screen door and dragged her suffering body into the small kitchen. She went right to the fridge. Milk! She grabbed the container. Too fast in her desperation, she choked on the volume as it poured out on to her face and down the front of her worn filthy shirt. She coughed, choked, and hacked for what seemed a protracted time, before being able to drink a second time. It was soon gone; the carton fell to the floor as she turned back to the brightly lit interior of the fridge searching for food. She hung on the metal door for support as her hands grabbed at anything edible. She finally forced herself to pause and allow the food to settle when she felt her stomach rebel at the volume she was sending its way. She needed to hurry. She dragged her unwilling body over to the cabinets to search for non perishable food to stuff into her backpack. Cheetos! She gasped and pulled the bag to her chest. A brief moment of joy filled her heart at the crinkling sound made by her favorite adolescent treat.

Shit, a noise. She froze. A door banging, then footsteps. Oh, fuck… Holding the Cheetos in a death grip, she struggled to pull the still nearly empty backpack over her shoulder, grabbed her crutch, and hobbled quickly to the door.

"Hello?" Sings Above The Mountains asked as he looked upon the oddest situation he could recall. A girl was struggling to get out his back door with a curved stick under her arm, a backpack falling off her shoulder, while desperately holding his extra large bag of Cheetos. His first thought was why is she taking my Cheetos? He took a couple of steps toward her. She turned and looked back at him. His silver ringed brown eyes locked on to her solid blue eyes as fear and terror covered both faces.

Sarah raised her stick at him and screamed, "Stop or I'll hit you!" She stumbled out the door, losing her balance as her leg gave out from under her. Falling off the small porch, arms flailing, sending the Cheetos off in one direction, the backpack falling from her in another, she landed in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the last step. A scream of agony escaped as searing pain enveloped her mind from all parts of her body. Within seconds, her overloaded brain pain receptors gave up and unconsciousness claimed her.

Sings Above The Mountains' mind finally processed what had just happened as the girl's scream ended in silence, then low moaning. Human! It had to be … the eyes, her fear, her odd threat; she had to be a wild human. All he had heard of wild humans played in his mind causing a chill of fear to sweep over his host body. He should call the seekers. It was the right thing to do. He reached into his pocket for his phone then stopped as he heard a strangled gasp and more moaning. Sings Above The Mountains took the few additional steps across the room and his hand touched the doorknob. Uncertainty, odd irrational doubt stopped him again.

"I should just call the seekers, let them handle it. They will get it to the healing facility and the body can be repaired and used." He mumbled as he looked out the screen door at the pitiful sight at the bottom of his steps. He pushed the door open and stepped out on to the small porch and looked down at the human's twisted body on the ground. He again reached for his phone as he stared at the sad sight before him. He realized than the human was not a child, but a young woman, small, but a woman. He knew now the seekers wouldn't try to save and repair the body. It was too old to be safely used as a host. It would just be discarded. He sighed as he contemplated the best course of action. He had healer training and a small supply of medicines. He couldn't let it suffer. That would be cruel. After a few more moments of indecision, he decided he'd put it to sleep and repair the body. He felt he had nothing to fear from its aggressive tendencies when it was unconscious. There would be time to consider a viable solution to the problem after healing the body.

Sarah woke in a haze of pain. She attempted to move and the pain shot through her and she cried out. She heard a voice. Who? The words were grabbled in her mind. A blurry face appeared close to her and she attempted to focus on it. Again the voice and words … open … mouth … water?

Sings Above The Mountains repeated the request again as he leaned in closer and gently lifted the bruised head. "Open your mouth; I have 'No Pain' and water." Finally, the mouth opened and the eyes tried to focus in on him. "Good, I'm putting the 'No Pain' on your tongue and … now a little water … careful…"

Sarah felt something touch her tongue and then water which she tried to swallow, but coughed and choked. Suddenly the pain began to fade and was gone in seconds. Her mind cleared, she felt her head being held, and she again looked in the direction of the voice. Finally, she was able to focus and looked into the face and eyes of her benefactor and … silver! Gasping in fear, she tried to move away, squirm out of its grasp as she saw the bottle in the hand approaching her face. The words she heard didn't register in her brain. Her last thought was this was the end as the smell of raspberries filled her nostrils.

Sings Above The Mountains saw the instant fear when its eyes were finally able to focus on him. As he pointed the bottle of 'Sleep' in its face he said, "Relax, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm going to put you to sleep to repair your body." In seconds, the eyes closed and the batted body fell limp. He waited a few moments and gently laid it out on the ground. Not thinking too much about it, he started checking the body for injuries. He found no major bone breaks or obvious internal injuries. Maybe a few cracked ribs from the fall off the steps, certainly bruises and scrapes. He noticed what looked to be a large crude wrapping through the blood stained rip in the leg of the jeans. Looking at the human closely, he guessed the body to be a few years younger than his host, probably late teens early twenties. He could easily see the small body was very malnourished. His cursory exam complete, he felt he could safely move it into the cottage without causing additional damage.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Sings Above The Mountains slid back onto the coffee table in front of his sofa. The small female human lay sleeping, it's breathing more regular and quiet. The repaired body was now able to rest and function comfortably. He shook his head slightly as he recalled the amount of Heal, Clean, Seal, Cool, and then all the Smooth he used to fix the skinny little body. Fortunately, he happened to have Bone to repair any potential internal rib fractures. He'd been a little surprised at the level of muscular development in the willowy frame, but also a bit concerned at the very low level of normal underlying female body fat. The biggest shock was the size and infected nature of the gash in the left thigh.

As good as it was going to get for the moment, he thought to himself as he glanced at the human, now clad only in its worn and grimy underwear. The small face was now blemish free and clean as was the rest of its pale skin. The hair had been a problem; he did his best to clean it, providing some improvement. He tucked the clean sheet around it gently and then laid a light blanket over it. He stood and scooped up the torn, filthy, blood stained jeans and equally disgusting dirty, milk-soiled shirt, plus the washcloth and towel he had used to wash away the dirt, sweat, and dried blood after the healing was complete. They all ended up in the washer in the laundry room. He grabbed the holey socks where he had left them on top of the tattered sneakers and tossed them in the trash.

Standing in the kitchen, hands on his hips he took in the various packages, containers, and the now empty milk carton laying about. All provided grim evidence of the poor creature's desperate search for food. A short time spent cleaning up the mess returned his kitchen to its earlier state of basic cleanliness. Following that chore, he retrieved his Cheetos from beside the porch along with the tattered backpack. After moving the clothes from the washer to the dryer, he was back in the kitchen eating his evening meal while contemplating the situation. He knew the right thing to do: call the seekers in the morning and they would take it away. He also knew he was procrastinating. It isn't as though they only worked nine to five. One call now and someone would be here. Flame Tender, more than likely, would probably be here in minutes. Pompous ass … his host memory provided the description. For a moment, his mind questioned the non soul like terminology popping up out of his host memories. It seemed to be happening more often, but he dismissed the concern as his moral musing continued. Why was he waiting? Delaying the inevitable? Was he feeling pity for the poor thing? Was that all?

He had been a healer on his last world - Singing World. He was a Healer at heart, his true calling. He didn't agree with the new policy of discarding adult wild humans, but understood the reasons for the change. There were so few wild humans found that he hadn't been much concerned by the issue. Now, the moral dilemma slept peacefully on his sofa. He knew his call would be a death sentence for it. The thought just … bothered him. A deep seeded gnawing at his conscious. He sat and stared out the door, agonizing over the problem. Fine, he decided in the morning he would let it go. He knew it was wrong, but he just couldn't be the cause of its death.

When he completed his evening preparations for bed, he checked on it. The human continued to sleep peacefully. He decided another tiny square of No Pain would ensure it was comfortable during the night. Then a large spray of sleep would guarantee it wouldn't wake anytime before morning. The last thing he wanted was the potential disaster of it waking during the night and in its panic unleashing unknown destruction to his home. He was sure his host body was much stronger than its small weak body, but he could barely imagine defending himself from it much less physically restraining or harming it.

Strawberries? Why did she smell strawberries? Sarah's brain was almost instantly awake and aware. Where was she … how … her eyes shot open and the first thing she saw was _it_? Oh, crap, son of a bitch. She struggled at the covering holding her down as her eyes raked around the room, then back to it. She heard the words … wait, talk, help, hurt. Ignoring it all, she spied the opening and the kitchen beyond and was up, staggering over the arm of the sofa, out through the opening into the kitchen and out the screen door. Fanatic pleading words were shouted behind her. Reaching the bottom step, she was off across the field.

"Ouch … crap … euu … shit … what the f..." and other vibrant terminology spurted from her mouth as small, sharp, stinging pain stabbed at the soles of her feet as she ran toward the tree line. She realized her feet were bare … where the hell was her sneakers?

"Shit, damn it…" a pointed rock to her left heel caused more descriptive swearing to be tossed out into the atmosphere as she slowed to a jogging one legged hop as she reached the first tree. Turning to see if it was chasing her, she was surprised to see the thing just standing on the porch watching her. She came to a halt at the next bigger tree, leaned against it for a second to catch her breath and then quickly turned to see what it was doing. As she stared across the field, she was stunned to see it run its hand through its hair, shrug its shoulders and finally put its hands on its hips as it stared back at her.

Sings Above The Mountains stood on his porch and looked across the field as the small human finally stopped, turned, and looked back at him. 'Jeez, that didn't go well…' he thought to himself as his host memories offered up a list of much more descriptive terms to describe the event. At that moment, it occurred to him that the human had run off so fast it had nothing with it. The clothes were still neatly folded on the coffee table where he had left them last night along with the new pair of thick soft socks he had provided. Oatmeal he had prepared for breakfast simmered on the stove. He turned and went back into the house to get the clothing, thinking he would leave them on the porch for it. Hopefully, it would return when it realized the clothing was left behind in its panic.

As Sarah watched, she was puzzled by the lack of a chase. It turned and went into the house. She now had a second to begin to assess her situation. Nothing hurt? She glanced down to her leg and … holy shit, where were her clothes? Why was she just in her underwear? She quickly stepped behind the tree as thoughts whirled in her head. Embarrassment, infuriation and madden incense consolidated into raging anger as she leaned out around the tree. "Fuckin' perverted son of bitch!" she screamed across the field to the house.

Sings Above The Mountains had gotten to the small pile of clothing in the living room, when he thought he heard something. Pausing a second, he listened, Must be my imagination, he determined and shrugged. Back in the kitchen, he got two plastic bowls, a couple of spoons and the pot of warm oatmeal and started for the door with the clothing under his arm. At the last second, he grabbed the Cheetos bag and was soon back out on the porch. He glanced out across the open space and didn't see the small human. Where did it go? Well, he thought, I'll just sit, eat breakfast and wait. Maybe it'll return shortly. It was going to want its clothing. The early morning air had the feel of early autumn.

Sarah leaned her head against the tree. "Fuckin' bug-ass son of bitch … why? What the f… "Her torrent of swears continued in her frustration as this new and greater predicament clarified in her mind. She had nothing now; the shit-for-brains bug had her clothes, her damn backpack and some of her few meager belongings. She banged her fist against the tree and grimaced at the minor pain. At that point her brain kicked in with a difference realization. Again, she thought, nothing hurt, why? She stepped back and looked down at herself. Shock came over her face and she searched her body for any cut, scrape, or bruise … a mark of any kind. Nothing! Where was the gash? She vaguely remembered falling from the porch and the pain, but no injuries from that? She tentatively stretched and twisted her body, testing. No pain, except for her feet from the fucking rocks, branches, and shit in the field she had just run across. To her relief, she didn't feel anything out of the ordinary where the perverted asshole may have … she didn't even want to go there. How long was she out? She glanced around, it looked like early morning. What did the damn bug do to her? What fucking damn bug drugs did it give her? She looked back around the tree and was stunned to see it sitting on the top step with her clothes in its lap.

Sings Above The Mountains was relieved to finally see the human poke her head around the tree. Even at this distance, he thought he saw surprise on the face. He raised the clothing up in front of him and beckoned to it. Nothing, just the continued stare … no, she raised her hand in a small fist, but with just the middle finger extended. What could that mean? His host memory then provided translation. He was shocked. More host memories seemed to interpreter the gesture coming from a small female in the current situation with some level of amusement. He dismissed the memories as inappropriate human behavior. He still wasn't sure how to judge the action. He had an idea. He raised the bag of Cheetos, pointed to them and beckoned her again with his hand.

"Asshole," she muttered as she shivered in the chill morning air. She was pissed, but her rational side finally kicked in. She had to get her clothes, backpack with her stuff, and maybe even food. She wouldn't survive long without her clothes and more food. What was his deal? Why was she all healthy and no bug in her head? He must have fixed her up. How? Why? There must have been plenty of time for him to do whatever he wanted with her. Why didn't he call the seekers? Why was he just sitting there with a dumbass smile on his face … fuck! This was stupid. He obviously didn't plan on chasing her. He'd probably easily catch her if he wanted. Especially, given she didn't have her sneakers, just bare feet. Smug-ass son of a bitch … Her mouth watered as she stared at the Cheetos. Oh, fuck, if this is it she did not intend to go gentle into that good night. At that she stepped out from behind the tree and launched herself back across the field to the house.

He had put down the bag to check on the oatmeal and fiddle with the assorted things laid out around him. When he looked up again he was shocked to see the human striding toward him. Seeing the look on the small face as it got closer, he was suddenly a little apprehensive. He had never talked to a wild human before. All he knew about them was what the seekers said and that was scary. He hoped that maybe they exaggerated or because it was small and female it would be less aggressive. However, the narrowed eyes, grim line to its mouth and aggressive march toward him did not bode well.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"You mother fuckin' perverted bastard, why did you take my clothes?" she screamed at him while pointing her finger accusingly in his direction, then flailing her arms around to enforce her accusation as she came to a halt about ten feet from the steps.

He was stunned at the tone and the language. Well, so much for her being less aggressive. At least she stopped before she got too close and didn't physically attack him.

"Ah, I took them off so I could heal your injuries. I washed them … they were pretty dirty." He picked them up and offered them to her.

Sarah closed the distance and snatched the clothes from his hands. She glared at him and stepped back a half dozen feet, dropping everything but the jeans on the ground. She quickly started to struggle into them.

Without thinking of what he was dealing with, his normal soul caring personality caused him to start to get up to help her.

"Get any closer and I'll kick you in the balls, you fuckin' pervert!" she threatened as she glared at him again while stumbling backward, arms whirling for balance, as she attempted to multi-task the activities of pulling on jeans and screaming violent colorful threats.

He froze and slowly sat back down as his host memories provided a visual image of the threat along with a clear physical memory which caused him to cringe. Hesitating, he thought he would offer food. Maybe that might calm her a little. "I made some oatmeal; it would be helpful for your body's nutritional requirements."

She glared at him again, "What, are you my mother!" fell out her mouth before her adrenalin- fueled rage at him let her consider the thought that maybe he just might be trying to be helpful.

Sings Above The Mountains was shocked at that question. He understood human reproduction. It was part of the detailed orientation program he had received when coming to this world. At her age she must know also, but now he wasn't sure given the odd question. "I don't understand your question. You do realize my host is a male and couldn't possibly be your mother, only human females can be mot…"

"Oh, _please_!" she rolled her eyes and sighed in an exaggerated manner glaring at him again. "How stupid do you think I am?" Mumbling a series of colorful descriptive terms relative to human excrement to herself, she pulled on her threadbare top and dropped to the ground. She hesitated a second looking at the new socks. Where did they come from? "Who the fuck cares," she muttered and started to pull on the socks.

Fortunately for Sings Above The Mountains, his host memories provide a quick lesson in dealing with a 'pissed off' human female. Lesson number one, there is _no_ correct or in any way helpful response to _that_ question. He gulped to himself and started spooning the warm oatmeal into a bowl.

After a few moments, Sarah finished tying her sneakers. In that short time, her rational side again took control and she realized that he was actually trying to be friendly and helpful to her, he seemed not to be threatening at all. He must have provided the medical treatment; he'd washed her clothes and obviously provided the new socks. It was all very much unexpected. Again, why? Well, maybe she needed to be a little more conciliatory, for now … less of a bitch … see what happened next … she knew she still needed to get her backpack and stuff. She looked up at him and he held out a bowl and spoon to her. Food, she eyed it warily. Glancing at the other bowl and spoon, hum, he planned on sharing the food, so, it probably wasn't drugged or whatever. Plus, he certainly had time while she was out to do that and more. Fine, she got up moved the few steps closer and took the bowl, hesitated and croaked out, "Thanks." Then retreated to her spot on the ground to eat her first warm meal in she couldn't remember how long.

He had been almost shocked at the first word of gratitude out of her mouth. He added a portion of the oatmeal to his bowl and they ate in silence. As he ate, he considered if maybe he could have a reasonable conversation with, ah, her… "So, what's your name?" he asked, hoping it wouldn't provoke another testy response. "My name is Sings Above The Mountains." he added a smile.

She looked up in surprise. What a stupid name she thought, but then they all seemed to have these weird names. "Sarah." She finished the last of her oatmeal, scraping the bowl with her spoon.

"Do you want some more? Ah, Sarah. There is a little more left…" he said as he checked under the lid of the pan.

"Sure." She responded warily and raised one eyebrow at his use of her name.

He got up with the pan and took a step in her direction then stopped. "Ah, you won't kick me will you?" he asked, frozen with trepidation.

She looked up at him and for the first time realized the difference in their size. She guessed he was at least six feet tall with an athletic build compared to her five feet of barely anything. So, he was at least a foot taller and probably close to double her weight. A bit of apprehension now bubbled to the surface along with an odd unfamiliar emotion as she took in a more detailed view of his overall appearance. God, if it wasn't for the silver round the eyes, he was … fuck. No, as she drove the thoughts from her mind, she reminded herself he was the enemy, not to be trusted. She maintained her defensive bravado and smirked, "No guarantees," as she lifted her bowl toward him.

He continued the remaining few steps and scooped the rest of the oatmeal into her bowl, scraping the sides of the pan to get it all for her. "I'm going to take the pan and my bowl into the kitchen, would you like something to drink? I have a Keurig; I can make you coffee, tea, or hot chocolate. I'd offer you milk, but ah, you drank or ah, spilled it all yesterday. "He shrugged and gave her a half smile.

"Hot Chocolate?" Her eyes lit up at the offer. "Ah, that would be, ah, fine." She responded, trying not to give away her surprise and delight at the thought of the treat.

"Ok, coming right up, oh, and we still have the Cheetos," he chuckled as he turned and started back to the porch and into the kitchen grabbing the Cheetos bag on the way. Once in the kitchen, he dropped the Cheetos on the small table, the bowl and pan in the sink and started a mug of Hot Chocolate for her with the Keurig. As he rinsed the dishes, he looked out the door at the small human … Sarah, as she sat on the ground. Sings Above The Mountains mulled over the exchange between them. She certainly had a difficult attitude given her circumstance. Again, his host memories provided a different word … 'feisty'. Then a word describing a female canine surfaced. He was puzzled at that memory word. He glanced out the door as he saw her looking around. She certainly didn't look like a canine; actually … she was a rather attractive female. Whoa, where did that realization come from? He quickly attempted to dismiss the thought.

Sarah finished the second helping of oatmeal and actually felt full for the first time in like forever. She nervously glanced around, checking the environment for any threats besides the odd alien bug in the cottage. It was as quiet as it had been all yesterday as she had staked out the place. She bit her lip anxiously as her focus returned to the cottage and its strange alien occupant. Would he come out with the drink for her? Would she have to go in? She hadn't seen her backpack anywhere around the porch, so he must have it in the house. For a few moments, she reviewed her position and rationalized again than he had had all night to do whatever, so another few minutes in the fucking house couldn't made a differences, plus, how else was she going to get her stuff. She screwed up her courage and nerve, got up and forced herself to take the five steps to the porch.

Sings Above The Mountains had turned back to the Keurig to get her drink out and start one for himself, when he heard the faint squeak of the screen door opening. He turned and there she stood in the door opening with the empty bowl in her hand. He was a little surprised to see the prior hard look on her face replaced with what almost looked to be a glimmer of apprehension. He smiled at her and received a slight uptick in the corners of her mouth in return. Her eyes focused warily on him as he slowly carried her cup of Hot Chocolate to the table and placed it in a spot closest to the door. He calmly gestured to the seat and then turned back to the counter with the Keurig to retrieve his mug. He could almost feel her eyes continue to focus on his every move.

Sarah leaned over and placed the bowl in her hand on the counter and quickly turned to the table and slipped into the seat with the mug of warm chocolate delight in front of her. She finally moved her eyes from him and concentrated on the mug before her. Her nose took in and savored the scent of the chocolate as she lifted the cup carefully to her lips. A soft sigh unconsciously slipped from her as the taste impacted her tongue and the favor instantly registered in her brain's pleasure center. The corners of her lips drew up in a slight smile as a rare moment of pleasure spread over her. For such a small thing to provide a few moments of comfort to her was surprising.

Sings Above The Mountains quietly slid into the seat opposite her at the small table with his own mug of Hot Chocolate. For a few seconds he observed her reaction to the drink with a mixture of satisfaction that he was able to bring a small sense of pleasure to her life, but at the same moment a feeling of sadness that such a small act would elicit such a strong response. His mind continued to be conflicted by his emotions toward this small female human. Why did he care? Why was he so concerned about her? Was it really just pity? His host's memories readily supplied a list of emotions as reasons to be pondered.

He reached out for the bag of Cheetos and tore open the top, took a few, and then slid the bag toward … Sarah. She flinched slightly as her mind returned to the current setting. She reached into the bag taking her own small handful of the cheesy delight as she looked into his silver ringed eyes. His eyes returned her now almost inquisitive gaze with a look of … what? Her mind tried to understand a look that she could not interpret as anything close to threatening. A look of caring? Concern? Why? Why would he care about her? Why are they sitting here like … like friends? Sharing a pleasant snack?

"Why, didn't you call the seekers?" the question fell out of her mouth.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 **

Sings Above The Mountains was startled by the question. He hesitated as he continued to look into her steel blue eyes which narrowed with concern as she awaited an answer. His confused uncertain mind didn't consider a lie or even minor evasion. He was a soul. He would only reply with as honest an answer as he could. "Ah, I'm not sure … I know I should have … it would have been the right thing to do, but I couldn't." He watched her face as it registered confusion at his answer.

"Why couldn't you? Why would you care about me?" was her stunned questioning retort.

"I thought about it, agonized over it while I repaired your body and while you slept. It bothered me. I just couldn't be responsible for your death. So, I decided to let you go when I woke you up this morning." He shrugged then smiled slightly, "you jumped up and ran so quickly I didn't have a chance to explain anything. When I returned to the porch with your clothes and the oatmeal and didn't see you, I was afraid you wouldn't come back. I was concerned you left without any of your belongings. So, I decided to wait and see. I could understand if you feared me and were afraid to return. If you hadn't returned shortly, then I would've left your things on the porch, hoping you'd return later or tonight." He shrugged again and smiled wider, "but, when you looked out from around that big tree, I was relieved," He paused for a moment. "However, I was frightened by your aggressive attitude and language, when you did return."

Sarah was astounded at his explanation as she finished the last of her handful of Cheetos. Confusion, doubt, concern, apprehension became a mishmash of emotions fighting in the development of some semblance of a rationale reaction to his account. She studied his face looking for some sign of deception without seeing any such indicator. She did recall that the typical soul didn't lie. She lifted the mug of cooling Hot Chocolate to her lips and took a larger sip as her mind continued to try to understand the why of his actions. She found it very difficult to put aside four years of terror and fear at the hands of these alien invaders and view the one she was facing as somehow different. For the first time a touch of guilt at her attitude toward him crept into her consciousness. She stared into the mug as she gripped the sides. She knew she should try to explain her reaction, her … umm … attitude. With apprehension, she looked back up into his eyes, "Ah, what was your name again?"

"Ah, Sings Above The Mountains…" he replied tentively.

Sarah bit at her lip nervously, "Sings Above The Mountains … I hope you can understand my fear of you and your society. I've been living in fear and terror of your, umm, kind for more than four years. When I woke, I didn't know where I was and I saw you and, umm, your eyes. I didn't … I was scared … I ran," Sarah hesitated, "when I stopped I didn't understand why, how, I was, umm, nothing hurt … I couldn't figure out what happen … then I saw I didn't have … I was just in my underwear … so, I thought that you had … well … you know … I was angry and scared … I didn't think, I was mad and well embarrassed. But, I knew you must have helped me, but I didn't understand how or why. Then when you held up my clothes, I thought it was like you were taunting me. I guess my anger just took over and I didn't think straight." Sarah looked down for a moment trying to swallow the lump in her throat. "I know now you could have let me die or just called the seekers and that umm," she tried cleaning her throat again and sniffed as her emotions started to get to her. "Thank you … and for the food, I umm … I maybe should go now." she stated almost as a question as she looked into his eyes.

Sings Above The Mountains was surprised at her sudden change of attitude and apparent heartfelt explanation of her understandable fear of him and misunderstanding of his actions. Then her thanks for his help. Despite his natural tenancy as a soul to be believing and accepting of any statements, he was aware that humans were very often untruthful. They easily lied when it suited them. Seekers had told him this many times. This was his first experience talking to a human so he felt he should be wary. He paused and thought, 'what should he be wary of?' She had simply explained her understandable reaction to the events. She was certainly much calmer and no longer threatening. "Oh, yeah, sure," he responded. "Let me get you your backpack." He stood and headed into the living room.

Minutes later they stood in front of his panty cabinet as he picked through his various packaged food, offering her this and that, asking which she preferred and carefully adding them into her backpack. He mostly picked and offered healthy energy bars, protein snacks and even the few packages of survival food he happened to have that were leftover from the human times. Sarah stood flabbergasted beside him as he loaded the backpack. Her eyes watched in amazement as more and more life saving food supplies were added to her backpack. The pack was stuffed to capacity with almost all the ready to eat pre-packaged food he had. He grabbed a large zip lock bag and filled it with Cheetos. He turned and smiled at her. "We'll have to find room in here for some of these. Huh?" She stared back with her mouth slightly ajar as she shook her head up and down slightly.

"You … you have given me everything you have…" Sarah said softly as she looked into his eyes. "Are yo.."

"Don't worry about it … I can get more at the supermarket tomorrow, you well…" he trailed off; both of them knew what he meant.

They moved on to another smaller cabinet. "Ok, this is a bottle of 'health'," he said as he showed her a small container. "It is somewhat like old human vitamins, but much better. They come in strawberry and chocolate. But, I only have the chocolate. You seemed to like the Hot Chocolate, so I guess this will be ok?" he looked at her quizzically. She nodded slightly and looked from the container then back up to his eyes as he stuffed it into a side pocket of the backpack. "I'll also give you a container of No Pain, Clean and a tube of Heal. The No Pain is harmless if you take too much, but it would be wasteful. One is all you need for any pain. Oh, you do have to remember than it only stops the pain. It doesn't heal anything, so you need to use some Clean and Heal, before you move very much … well, depending on the injury." He looked over at her shocked face as he added them to the side pocket. "Ok?"

Sarah nodded again as her eyes traveled to the loaded backpack and back up to his smiling face. "I … I don't … why? Why are you doing this? Helping me … so much?" her hand waved at the supplies. "I don't understand why you are being so … so, nice?"

Sings Above The Mountains hesitated and then chuckled nervously. "Well, like I said, it bothered me to see you hurt and helpless. Now, that I healed you, I didn't want to just let you go and have you have to struggle to find food and maybe harm yourself again or maybe others…" He paused for a second, uncertain about making the next offer. "Umm, if you need help again, ah, you know food or you get hurt … I'll be here …" He watched her eyes get big as she listened. He wavered a moment as he considered his next statement. "I'm usually at the healing facility most afternoons and some evenings … if I'm home and it's safe for you, I'll leave, umm, a Cheetos bag in that window." He gestured toward the kitchen window overlooking the field and the tree line. Ok?" He suddenly felt a little embarrassed by his assumption. "Oh, that is if you want to … umm … I understand if not…" he glanced down a second then back to her.

Sarah's mind spun trying to fathom his words, his explanation, but more so his offer. She couldn't think straight with the emotions of her shock and surprise at the actions of this alien. A species she had hated and feared with absolute righteous justification. A being who's kind had destroyed her life and taken away her last hope just sixteen days ago. Now, this … this compassionate individual that had saved her life, when he could've, should've, let her die, and in this moment had provided a lifeline of food and medicine for today and days to come. Her tough emotional walls cracked. The protective defense needed to survive these years and especially these past days; fell away at the compassion and caring for her he had shown when he had no reason. For the first time in years, her hard stoic emotionless façade gave way to a quivering lip and then tears. Slow quiet tears soon gave way to a catch and then quiet sobs as she couldn't control the emotions that had been held back for so long.

Sings Above The Mountains was confused. Had he said something wrong? Why was Sarah crying? He was concerned that what he had said somehow distressed her. Maybe he had scared her with the assumption she would want to return? "I'm sorry if I worried you or made you afraid with my offer. I know you have much to fear from me, so, I understand that you don't want to …"

"No, it's not that," she managed to get out between the quieter sobs as she turned her tear streaked face up to look into his now confused and concerned eyes. "I am so grateful to you for your help. It is so much more than I … I could imagine … or understand … Thank you … Thank you so much." She bit her lip with concern. "You have already given me so much, I don't want to get you in trouble with your … umm … peo… your, umm kind, by returning…"

"No, don't worry about that." He quickly countered. "Just look for the Cheetos bag in the window…" he smiled, hoping to reassure her.

Minutes later he stood on the small porch and watched Sarah walk slowly towards the woods. As he observed her progress, various emotions played in his mind. First, concern for her welfare … her safety … but then as he reflected on their short meeting, he realized the emotions he felt toward her were different than he had felt from his host body before … unique from any feelings he had ever had toward any soul inhabited female hosts he knew. Suddenly, she stopped and turned back to look at him. He was delighted to see her face, but more so to see the hint of a small smile that played across it. At that moment her small hand lifted and instead of a fist, it was open and waved tentatively in his direction.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The cold drizzle persisted. The leaden sky hung low over the forested hillside obscuring the tops of the taller trees. The biting breeze carried a few waves of the light mist of cold moisture almost to the toes of the worn sneakers that were pulled as tightly as possible up against the thin trembling body. The gloom of the day mirrored the gloom of Sarah's mood. The unusually warm autumn had suddenly turned colder. The weather got colder with every passing hour. The small outcropping on the side of a hill was the best shelter she had found during her search the past week. Her hope had been to find a cave, something that would protect her from the elements. She didn't expect to luck out and find another location as ideal as the sanctuary she and her friends had lived in, or survived in, the past four years, but she needed to find something better that this small open slice of rock in the side of a hill.

Despite her best efforts; her mind again recounted the events of the past month. The two critical moments of disaster that brought her to this sorry state. The seeker raid on the cave was first. Luckily, she and Josh were out on a run for supplies. They returned to find the cave entrance blocked, covered by rock and dirt and all their friends gone. In their fear and paranoia, they could only conclude that Kristen's capture on a supply run the week earlier had given the seekers the information needed to find them. They made the pact at that moment; if one was caught the other would run. Not return to any location they knew. After over a week on the move, they had to try to get food. That's when she lost Josh. The seekers had been prepared. Even the damn, regular bugs were more wary, on alert to unusual activity. That's why she had delayed her approach to the bug world until her most desperate moment.

The tears she just couldn't control any more trickled down her cheeks. She was alone; cold and scared. Her mind again tried to come up with a plan for the future. It would only get colder. All the winter supplies, all the everyday survival gear, had been in the cave. Now they were gone. The clothes on her back were all she had. They were inadequate now. The cold and rain that descended overnight made that abundantly clear. How was she going to survive this winter even if she found better shelter? How would she stay warm? The last three winters in the cave they had Colman stoves for cooking and heat. Their sleeping bags provided some comfort and warmth. She had none of these things. She needed to find a better spot to hole up in for the winter and she needed to find some way to get warmer clothing, a blanket, a sleeping bag, other gear to get through the coming winter. Either that or … die, cold and alone. Alone … the emotions, the fear, the absolute terror of … alone.

No, she straighten up, gridded her teeth, she wasn't giving up yet. She didn't want to die at twenty-two.

Her mental musing now returned to the one bright moment in the past month, Sam. She marveled at her incredible luck. Yeah, the weird alien that fixed her injuries and then gave her the food she was living on. Sings Above The Mountains was just too stupid a name … Sam was better. She liked the nickname she had bestowed on him in her mind. Again she turned over the entire experience with him in her brain, trying to figure out why he would do what he did. He should have just called the seekers on her. But, he didn't … he said he couldn't? Why? Pity? He didn't want to waste his time and effort fixing her only to have the seekers do … what did he say? Discard her? It hadn't taken too much thought about that statement for her to understand the implications. They wouldn't put a bug in her head … they would just kill her. Not that she could really see much difference. She just didn't understand why the change now. Obliviously, they took over the world so they could take over our bodies, so why the change?

Even with the healing of her injuries, the washing her dirty clothes, the warm socks he provided. She wiggled her toes in the socks at the thought. The warm oatmeal, Hot Chocolate, and all the food he gave her when she left. None of that shocked her more than his final words. He would help her again. He would be there for her. He would put the Cheetos bag in the window so she would know it was safe … safe to return if she needed help. It was beyond her understanding of these alien creatures that this one would make such an offer, was he that difference? Why the offer? Was he being kind, nice or did he want something?

Her mind now explored the potentially less altruistic motivations on Sam's part. She had wrestled with these same concerns all week. Whenever she thought about his reasons this potential explanation kept returning. The problem with the explanation she kept returning to was simple. He had her all night. He had removed her clothes. Fixed her body and cleaned her up. But, as best as she could tell, he hadn't 'touched' her. Why? If he had any motivation in that vein, it would have been the perfect opportunity. Then give her to the seekers … be done with her. But he didn't? She also was aware, that based on what little knowledge of these aliens she had picked up over the past four years, they were not violent or aggressive, and they seemed to live the normal lives of the people they took over, but in more friendly social ways, except for the seekers, of course. The confusion over Sam remained unresolved in her mind.

Sarah knew she wasn't the most experienced young woman, but she wasn't that naive about men. She had her share of experiences in high school to have developed a basic understanding of male, umm, interests. Brian, her only real love, her boyfriend senior year, he was the last happy time in her life. Hanging out at the mall, the movies, their friends and the furtive times and locations when it was just them. They franticly, clumsily explored their physical needs and desires. In a mutual commitment of love, they gave to each other their innocence. They planned a life together after high school. College, then … but there was no life after high school. The world suddenly changed and Brian was no longer Brian. Tears returned with quiet sobs. Sarah hadn't let herself think about Brian in a long time, it was just too useless, too … difficult. She had hardened her soul to survive in this new world.

But, Sam's concern, caring, and generosity had cracked her emotional walls. How? Why? Gratitude for the supplies, she wasn't sure. She remembered the look on his face, in his eyes as he explained his actions. A look for her she hadn't seen since … since … Brian? Those few minutes of conversation, the experience itself had changed something in her. Rekindled an emotion she thought long gone. How could an alien, a bug, a member of a species that had violently destroyed her life and hopes, elicit such an emotion?

At that moment the late afternoon sun broke through the clouds. Sunlight brightened the red and gold of the autumn foliage while shooting streams of warm glowing light at Sarah's feet. For a moment, her mood lifted, but the cold breeze that accompanied the breaking of the clouds only signaled the introduction of colder air. The rain was over but now she knew the cold would only get deeper, more penetrating. She was damp to the skin, chilled to the bone from the earlier rain and drizzle. This night would be just as difficult as the last. More likely it would be even more uncomfortable, definitely colder. Her teeth worried nervously at her trembling cold bloodless white lips as she wrung her thin pale fingers together to generate some small amount of warmth. Her scrawny body suddenly shook from head to toe as another chill spread through her. She had to make a decision. Staying here wouldn't be a good plan. The need for better shelter, dryer, with some warmth, was obvious. So, she finally came to a similar conclusion as she had a week ago. Whatever the risk, Sam held her only realistic hope for survival.

Sarah crawled out from under her makeshift shelter, stretched her muscles and stomped her feet, trying to generate some body warmth and restore flexibility to her limbs. She squatted down and pulled the backpack out, reached into the side pocket and fished out one of her few remaining survival tools, a small compass. The backpack was swung up and on to her back adjusted, straps tighten, and with a quick glance around to confirm direction, she headed off toward the cottage.

The almost two hour journey gave her plenty of time to rethink, rehash, worry and fret over the whole plan, as limited, uncertain, and desperate as it was. What would she say? What would she ask for? A blanket, maybe a tarp, a sleeping bag, but, would he even have some of these things? He really had only offered help if she was hungry or hurt. The supplies she needed to survive the winter outside might be more than he could or was willing to offer. Then what? What could she offer in exchanged? She had nothing but herself … her scintillating personality? No, not likely, no, all she had was her body … was that even something he would be interested in? He was still a guy, an attractive guy. She shook her head at her own assessment of Sam. But he lived in a normal bug world. A world of aliens, but it was a normal life for him. He had opportunities for women. He could have a girlfriend. Probably, she'd be more attractive than her. Definitely, she'd be cleaner. His pity, maybe that's all she could hope for from him.

It bothered her to have sunk to this level, but she could think of no other options. The doubt, fears, uncertainties continued to haunt her as she moved ever closer to her destination. Well, she finally conceded, she would be no worse off than she was now. She honestly couldn't see what she had to lose. She was alone, probably the last human for all she knew. He could turn her away … he could decide to turn her into the seekers. She felt he was honest with her about his reasoning at the time, but it had been a week, he might have changed his mind. Somehow she didn't think so. She hoped not. She had so little hope left as the cold wind whipped in her face slowing her pace, cooling her body degree by degree.

The sun had just disappeared into the tree line to her left as she slowly approached the edge of the woods. A damp deep seeded cold permeated her limbs. The cottage was barely visible through the last remaining stand of trees before the field. Sarah's eyes scanned into the field as she approached, skimming east and west of the cottage. Looking, searching, scrutinizing, every tree and bush for danger. She crept up to the large tree she had hid behind the week ago. Paused for a second then looked around the edge to the small house, eyes focusing in on the window. Nothing…


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Sings Above The Mountains had spent most of the past week worrying about the small female human, ah, Sarah. Each evening, when he returned from his calling at the healing facility, he would put the Cheetos bag in the kitchen widow. In the morning, he sat on the small porch with his cup of coffee gazing across the field. The day after she had left he had gone to the supermarket and bought his usual list of groceries, plus a large number of the prepackaged, ready to eat, easy to carry, high protein foods in addition to a large supply of Hot Chocolate for his Keurig and more Cheetos. As each day passed he became more disappointed that she didn't appear. He understood. She was afraid. She probably didn't trust him.

As the days stretched into a week and the weather turned wet and cold, the disappointment evolved into concern and apprehension. He tried to placate his concerns by telling himself she must have established shelter and cold weather supplies. She had obviously survived for all these years. Maybe she was with family or a small group. This thought actually caused a variety of emotions to worry at him. A group of wild humans in the area was troubling.

He hadn't said anything about her to his friends at the facility. He knew that would not be something he should reveal to anyone. Sunshine Through The Mist was his best friend and the only one that really noticed the change and his preoccupation. She pressed him some, but as a typical soul, she let it go when he insisted things were fine. This lie bothered him, especially not telling Sunny. He knew it was a lie by omission but it still bothered him. Almost a week after Sarah's visit, there was an information meeting of healers and facility support personnel with a few of the area seeker team. The seekers were informing the group about the discovery of a group of wild humans over a month earlier in the northern sector of their coverage area. Flame Tender was describing in great detail a successful operation in which a heroic seeker volunteer had been placed in a single female wild human caught the week earlier.

'Pompous ass'. The phase popped up out of his host memories again. Sings Above The Mountains was temporarily diverted in his focus on the tale of courageous seeker action, by his developing internal concern about the increase in the odd inappropriate host memory thoughts that seem to be appearing without his conscious retrieval. He pushed the thought and concern to one side for now and focused back to Flame Tender.

Flame Tenders voice increased an octave and dropped a level in tone as he continued the tale. "Flaming Torch, our brave volunteer, was able to access memories which lead us to a group of humans. We were able to affect their capture, disposal and the destruction of their hideout. The female's memories indicated there were only two humans missing from the hideout." He smiled broadly as he went on to boast, "Due to diligent investigative efforts by my team and the support of many citizens in the area, the missing male was caught alone, less than a week later, while looting two homes in a neighbor dozens of miles west of the original human hideout. The last remaining human was a small female and there has been no looting or any other sign of wild human activity in the district in over a month. We are confident that it didn't survive and it was no longer a threat to the district." He smiled and nodded to the sighs of relief and light applause from the assembled group.

Sings Above The Mountains listened to the entire story, careful not to reveal his discomfort with the details. The only comfort he took was from the final conclusion. Sarah would be safer, less likely to be captured if seekers weren't looking for her, assuming she was dead. He realized that he had to make sure he resupplied her so she wouldn't loot for food and call attention to herself. However, as he walked back to his office, it also greatly increased his fear for her wellbeing. She was alone now. Her family or group she was probably apart of was gone. As the details and the implications of this information were understood, his apprehension increased markedly. A month ago the weather was warm and pleasant. She was not likely to have taken warm clothing with her when she left their hideout. She probably only had the few things with her she was wearing at his house last week. He was now even more alarmed that she hadn't returned.

As he sat in his office updating the few patient records that represented the cases he had seen this morning, his mind couldn't stay focused on the task. His contemplation kept returning to Sarah. He wondered who the male was. Her father? Flame Tender hadn't commented on the age of the lone male. Brother, maybe? Could it have been just another member of the group, or … hum … a partner? Sings Above The Mountains was oddly aware that the idea that Sarah might be partnered … bothered him. He was surprised at this peculiar new emotion. Within seconds the comprehension that if she had been partnered than the partner was gone. This caused a new and more disturbing mixture of emotions.

After a few more minutes of conflicted contemplation, he decided he couldn't concentrate on work. He needed a break. A quick glance at his watch and a late lunch became the break he needed. Grabbing his coat, he was out of his office and swung around his door and into the next office.

"Sunny!" A head covered with shiny shoulder length brunette waves with auburn highlights lifted from her work. A set of big bright blue green eyes with the silver rings looked up at him. A smile spread across the perfect porcelain white skin of his friend's face. He smiled back and added "Lunch?"

"Sure … the diner?" She asked as she stood, slipped off her lab smock, and reached for her purse. The three inch heels on her boots elevated her up close to his height. The snug fitting long dark boot cut jeans set off its share of curves on her host's body. The blue green silk blouse, a perfect match for her eyes, struggled to contain a set of more rounded curves. The entire picture completed a striking vision for any human male to contemplate.

In a practiced move, he pulled her coat from its spot on the coat rack, helped slide it up her arms on to her shoulders, and with his hand absentmindedly on the small of her back, guiding her, they headed out of the office. In a matter of minutes they were out the front of the healing facility walking casually toward their usual lunchtime eatery. Seated in their regular booth, they chit chatted, bickering over minor details from the morning events. The burger and large side of fries for him and a veggie spinach salad for her soon arrived.

"So, what do you think of Flame Tender's story?" Sunshine Through The Mist asked as the fingers on her slender finely manicured right hand snuck across the table and snatched a French fry from Sings Above The Mountains' plate.

"I guess it'll make us all safer…" he responded vaguely.

Sunshine Through The Mist looked over at him with an arched eyebrow. First, no standard joking retort that she should order her own fries rather that swipe his. Now, he had a lackluster reaction to one of the bigger wild human captures in months. She was puzzled. "Are you sure something's not bothering you? You seem a million miles away lately."

"I'm fine, just a lot on my mind, I guess…" he answered in a nervously elusive way. He looked up into her now concerned face as she nibbled the last of his fry. "I, I … how did you know when you wanted to partner with Snow Shaper?" he blurted out.

She paused for a second and stared at his now rapidly blushing face. At first she wondered where that question came from. They were close friends, talked about most anything, even their host's human sexual relationship needs. She suddenly had a realization and broke into a big grin. "So, who is she?" she asked with a chuckle in her voice. "No, let me guess … humm, I know! Petals Lifted To The Sun, in accounting?"

"No, no, it's not Pet. We're only, well, anyway, no, wait, why do you think that?" he asked defensively.

"Why else would you ask me about Snow Shaper like that … you never have before…" she looked back at him with a smirk crossing her face.

"I just, I don't know how," he leaned back and ran his hand through his hair and sighed. "The emotions are different than, I don't, other times I knew it was my host's reproduction desirers, but now, its, it's confusing." He shrugged and rubbed his forehead.

She reached across the table and patted his hand. "You know how difficult these host emotions can be. Believe me this one is one of the hardest to make sense of. Snow Shaper and I had to just sit and talk through everything we felt from of host bodies. We came to the conclusion that our bodies had a special emotional besides physical bond and desire for each other. Plus, we had our own connection from the Mist World, so, we spent a lot of time together… you remember. In the end the bond and the connection grew and we knew it was right. So…" Sunshine Through The Mist shrugged then grinned. "Ok, then, if it's not Petals Lifted To The Sun, then who, umm, Analyses Parts Inventory, in the supply room? I've seen how you look at her."

"No, not Ally. You don't know her…" he replied as he got a little concerned about where this conversation may go and not wanting to be untruthful, especially with Sunny, but knowing he couldn't admit the real circumstance.

"Where did you meet her? When? Have you known her long?" Sunshine Through The Mist's questions flowed out in an inquisitive torrent.

"Umm, out at my place, about a week ago…" he hesitantly mumbled.

"Really, how did she get way out there?" Sunshine Through The Mist followed up quizzically.

Sings Above The Mountains swallowed anxiously, "Umm, she was, ah, hiking in the woods and, ah, had fallen and hurt her leg, a gash, so she was lucky to find my place… Natural, I helped her, healed her leg and the other small cuts and bruises. Well, we talked some, and I felt these different new odd emotions… Not like the usual reproductive need desires … you know, well, ah, maybe some of through too, but these were more so … but, then she had to go. So, ah, that was kinda it." He shrugged again as he looked back into his friend's now wide surprised eyes and raised eyebrows.

"Did you ask where she lives? Did you get her phone number? Anything?" Sunshine Through The Mist stared at him with an appalled look on her face.

Well, umm, no, but I invited her to return any time…" Sings Above The Mountains retorted in a lame defense.

Sunshine Through The Mist leaned back in her seat, folded her arms over her chest, and glared at him. "That's it? Your host body is interested in her host body and is hitting you with all these special unique emotions and you let her get away with just some vague invitation to return sometime? You're usually sharper at this than that. She must be really something special to confuse you that much."

"I guess so…"

"I don't know," Sunshine Through The Mist shook her head in disbelief, "all you can hope is that her host body had a similar reaction to yours as yours did to hers." Sunshine Through The Mist paused a second and again leaned over and patted his arm. "Believe me, if her host is as interested as yours, she'll be back." She then snickered. "I'll guarantee it."

Sings Above The Mountains looked down and poked at his remaining fries with his fork contemplating the conversation. He looked up into his friend's concerned face. "You guarantee it, huh? Ok, if she doesn't return in a week, you'll try pie?"

"Wait! You know I hate cooked fruit… "They glared at each other with amused one sided curled up smirks. "Ok, fine," Sunshine Through The Mist finally conceded, "if she doesn't return in a week, I'll try your gross pie." She sighed. "I don't know why I'm giving into such a stupid bet."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Sarah was … disappointed. No, that didn't beginning to describe her feelings. She put her palms flat against the rough bark of the tree, brought her arms in tight against her body to ward off the cold. Her forehead slowly moved forward until it rested on the back of her hands. She sighed and exhaled a shallow breath. Maybe he had changed his mind about her. Teeth clinched for a second. No, she would try to be positive. He could still be at work. He had said he usually worked afternoons and evenings. She would wait. Hope…

Minutes and more minutes slowly crawled by as a slow steady feeling of exhaustion and drowsiness enveloped her. She lost a sense of time as she leaned in closer to the tree looking for some small amount of shelter from the persistent wind. It was getting much colder and her hands started to feel numb. She shivered again the tree. She considered just going inside and waiting for him there. A slow furtive glance around the edge of the tree confirmed nothing had changed. Dusk was rapidly overspreading the field and her location on its border. As she debated going in to get out of the cold, a sound, faint, was a car approaching? She wasn't sure as she cowered behind the tree, ensuring she wasn't seen by whoever could be approaching. The sound was gone, it was dead quiet again. She waited, her mind trying to think, focus, was it him? She had to look. Nothing had changed … no, a light came on in the kitchen window. She thought she saw some movement flash pass the window in the area beyond. More movement, she gasped slightly. _Cheetos_. She just stared for a second, and then a giggle slipped out as tears welled up in her eyes. She couldn't believe the feeling of relief that flowed through her. He hadn't changed his mind. _Cheetos._ He was there for her.Shewasn't sure why, she didn't care why. _Cheetos_.

Sings Above The Mountains walked in the house. Moving through the living room and on into the kitchen, he flipped on the overhead light as he passed the switch. Walking by the window, he grabbed the Cheetos bag on the counter turned back to the window and careful positioned it. Pausing a second, he gazed at the bag, sighed and turned to the door. Seconds later he was on the porch looking out across the field and … was it? He froze and stared at the big tree across the field. Yes, it must be, who else, what else. He was off the porch, without thinking, moving quickly. Not thinking why, not caring why. His eyes never left her face as he strode across the field. As he approached her he could see her body shake slightly as she held on to the tree. Now her face became clearer, a small smile, but also tears.

Sarah pulled her eyes from the Cheetosand saw him step out on to the porch and stare right at her. Nervous tension, the cold, and the wind had stiffened her limbs. She slowly stepped out from the tree. One hand leaned on to its side for support. In the limited light of the moment between dusk and dark of the fall evening, she could barely see the silver in his eyes. It didn't matter. She wasn't afraid, she didn't fear him. She saw the concern, the caring etched into every facet of his face as he advanced rapidly across the field toward her. A trembling shudder racked her body with an uncontrolled shaking as the damp cold penetrated deeper into her bones. He stopped only an arm's length away. She looked up into his eyes without noticing the silver, only seeing the look of worry, of concern, of gentle compassion.

Sings Above The Mountains smiled with relief as he stopped in front of the small human, Sarah. "I'm relieved you decided to return. I was concerned you were too afraid to come back." He hesitated a second and looked at her closely and saw another wave of shuttering trembling shakes overwhelm her.

Sarah stared into his eyes, hearing his words of concern her smile grew and the tears started again as she felt her body shake from the cold once more.

Sings Above The Mountains knew she was cold, too cold. She needed to be warmed and dried. He quickly pulled off his coat. He started to reach for her, but stopped and looked deep into her eyes looking for the ok. She continued to smile and then nodded.

'Thank you," was all she could say as he took the pack off her back. "Thank you," as he covered her with his coat. "Thank you," as he started to guide her to his house. She barely staggered a few steps.

"I'm going to carry you." Sings Above The Mountains stated, not asking permission this time. He gathered her feather light body into his arms easily and held her tightly against his body as he moved quickly toward the house.

Emotions she hadn't felt in years, emotional warmth from so long ago again consumed her thoughts as her numb stiff fingers grasped at his shirt.

Minutes later she was lying on the same sofa she had escaped from last week. His coat was wrapped tightly around her. He quickly returned from another room with a pile of blankets and pillows in his arms and a small instrument.

"I'm going to take your temperature, ok?" Sings Above The Mountains asked as he held the instrument that registered body temperature when inserted in the ear.

Sarah moved her head slightly in his direction and nodded weakly.

"Hum, eighty-eight degrees, moderate hypothermia, we need to get you out of those wet clothes and warm you up." Sings Above The Mountains looked at Sarah with continued concern. "Can you do it yourself or do you need help?"

Sarah tried to focus her mind on the question. All her fears about his motives were forgotten, she had made the decision. "Help, please…"

An hour later a mug of Hot Chocolate was clutched in her hands as she was finally able to sit up. Layers of warm blankets covered her, surrounding her in lifesaving warmth and … comfort. The heat generated by the warm cup warmed her still slightly cool hands as they gripped it. The light waves of heat rose from the drink and carried the warmth and comforting aroma of the Hot Chocolate to her nose. She sighed.

"Let me check your temperature one more time." He stated more than asked as he leaned over her and stuck the instrument in her ear for the fourth, fifth? She had lost track. Things had been a little fuzz at first, but she was much more awake now. It didn't manner anyway. He had been watching her, checking her for this and that for the over an hour she had been there. She watched his expression change from the continuous mild concern to more a mixture of relief and satisfaction.

"Good, ninety-seven point six, almost there." He smiled with satisfaction. "How are you feeling now?" He asked as he touched her forehead for a moment then moved down to her wrist while she held the mug in the other hand.

"I feel much better, almost normal, I guess…" she smiled back up at him.

"Good, good … your pulse rate is back to normal too." Sings Above The Mountains replied with a corresponding smile as he settled back to sit on the coffee table in front of her. "Your clothes are in the dryer. They should be done in about an hour. Oh, I bought a large supply of healthy food for you."

Sarah's face dropped. She looked down and bit her lip nervously. "Ok, I understand, I should go when their done … umm, could … could I have a blanket or two? I don't have anything to repay you for your generosity … all I have is ah, me … maybe you, ah, I'll do whatever, ah, you want… " She didn't dare look at his face as she was covered by an embarrassed blush.

Sing Above The Mountains was both surprised and confused by Sarah's reaction to his comment. He stared at her unsure of how to respond. He thought she would stay at least the night. It was getting colder … why would she want to leave now? Had he said something to scare her? Telling her that her clothes were almost done seem such a small thing … oh … oh; maybe she was thinking I want her to leave. Why is she … what is she talking about, all she has is herself? Do whatever … Huh? No, oh, no, is she really offering her… I wouldn't, I couldn't… Without a second of additional hesitation, he reached over and gently put his forefinger and thumb on her chin and lifted her face up to his.

A dark depression had quickly overtaken Sarah as she sat staring into the mug of chocolate in her hands. He had seen her body and probably concluded it wasn't worth a couple of blankets … before she could think herself any more worthless, she suddenly felt a touch and her face was lifted and she immediately felt his gaze on her. She kept her eyes down; mortified at how low she felt she had sunk in her desperation.

"Sarah, please look at me…" Sings Above The Mountains said gently to her.

Sarah slowly looked up into his face and again saw the same compassion and concern that had been there all along.

"I would never expect such a thing; ask such as thing! I just want to see you healthy and safe." Sings Above The Mountains cleared his throat as he dropped his hand from her chin. "If you really feel you need to leave or want to leave, I won't stop you. However, as a healer, I strongly recommend that you don't leave. You're not prepared for the cold and I don't have enough of the right cold weather supplies to give you to keep you safe outside overnight. I would personally much prefer you stay, at least tonight. I can't imagine you spending the night out in the cold. We can talk about the future tomorrow. You will be safe here tonight." He paused a second time, and then looked deep into her water filled blue eyes, "please?"

She stared back, hardly comprehending the words … but the final please. It sounded so heartfelt, so … personal. She was again amazed by this compassionate creature. "Are you sure? I don't want to be a burden or get you in trouble with … I can leave if…"

Sings Above The Mountains suddenly blurted out, "No!" Both were shocked by the force of the word and just stared at each other for a moment.

Sarah gasped at the sound and the force of his response, and then studied the look on his face for a second and hesitantly whispered "ok…"

Sings Above The Mountains sighed nervously. "Sorry, I was so … sorry if I scared you, ah, I really want you to stay … I think, ah, I don't know, ah" His mind was racing searching the host memories and his own limited earth memories to try to explain his reasons, feelings, emotional needs for her to stay. The host memories provided more than he thought appropriate for the circumstance, especially the ones he wasn't looking for. He was confused. "I, I, just want you to stay…"was all he was able to stammer out.

Sarah watched in her own state of confusion as a range of emotions flowed over his face. As she listened to his nervous stumbling explanation that really explained little, she thought she was getting a feeling of more than just pity or compassion for her as a creature, another species, from him. Could it be? Could he actual have human male feeling for her, beyond just a physical attraction? He had rejected her pitiful offer of her body from a moral sense, but still she saw a want, she thought it was a desire, not just a lustful desire, but different, more for her as a person. Why? How was it possible? "I'll, ah, stay. Thank you." She paused wanting, needing, to express her feelings. "You cannot begin to understand how grateful I am to you … you've saved my life, twice. Now you're letting me stay here. It's much more than I ever expected. Thank you."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"Ok, I'll start it now while you finish your Hot Chocolate." Sings Above The Mountains explained as he turned and headed for the bathroom.

Sarah took another sip of the fabulous drink and felt the warmth again flow into her body. She heard the sound of water rushing into the tub, a bath, he offered her a bath. Her mind wandered to the last bath she'd had. Weeks, no, well over a month ago in the hot springs in the cave. The day before… She pulled her mind away from those thoughts. Since then she'd only been able to wash quickly in whatever available water source she was able to find. Now, Sam was running her a warm bath, soap, clean water in a warm private room … in his house.

Minutes later Sings Above The Mountains was back at her side. He crouched beside her and looked into her eyes. "The waters running and I got you a set of flannel lounge pajamas and a robe to wear after you get out. You ready? Do need help?"

"Sure…" she answered as she started to rise from her seat and leaned toward him. He stood, took the mug from her, setting it on the table, then turned back and in that instant they were facing each other mere inches apart.

The young women's face with the nervous blue eyes looked up into the young man's face with the similarly nervous silver ringed brown eyes. Time unmeasured, passed. Strong male arms slowly, tentatively, reached around the small emotionally and physically fragile young woman. A hug, gentle and warm, missing for so long and so much needed now, conveyed feelings they had both wrestled with, were confused by, and both tried to deny.

Sarah clutched the blankets around herself as she leaned into the unexpected but so very much comforting embrace. She hesitantly rested her head against his chest under his chin and felt arms slowly, gently wrap around her body, then fingers gently massaging her shoulders and down her back. A new warmth started. A warmth she hadn't felt in oh so long. A warmth she never expected to feel again. An emotional need, a physical need, long ignored, hidden under the hard shell of cool defensive bravado for years. A shell cracked a week ago by the compassion of this very same creature … this man. The emotional protective shell now split open and the long buried need and want bubbled up. She was tired of the worries, the uncertainties, and the fear that had been her life. She needed, she wanted to feel safe, protected, and maybe, just maybe, at some moment, feel loved.

Sings Above The Mountains held the small female human in his arms. He felt her lean into his cautious embrace, tucking her head under his chin and resting it against his chest. The emotions his host body was emitting were beyond anything he had experienced. The small silver creature that was him struggled to make sense of the feelings. He tried to remember the comments by Sunny. Her explanation of her host body's reaction to Snow Shaper's host body, and why the partnering emotional need was different from the usual host body reproductive need. He knew he was certainly getting different, stronger signals than the usual sexual desire needs he was accustom to responding to. In the confused state of his mind, he was certain of one thing, he did not want to lose this small human female that now cling to him … Sarah.

Sings Above The Mountains suddenly remembered, the tub, the water. "Sarah," without thinking, he scooped her up into his arms again and started for the bathroom. "The tub must be full."

Sarah was startled by his quick movements but, easily settled into his arms. "Yes, sure, ok…" was all she mumbled as her head leaned into his chest and her hands gripped the blankets while trying to also grasp his shirt.

Moments later they were by the very full tub and he set her down. "Bubbles?" she questioned as she looked at the totally unexpected sight before her.

As he quickly turned off the water, he turned and explained. "I thought you might like them. Pet enjoys it occasionally when she sta…" his host memories immediately caused an almost physical assault in his brain. His mouth hung open with nothing more than a stiffled muffled choking sound escaping. Words like, idiotic, foolish, stupid, raced across his mind, in addition to a few much more graphic phases of derision. She doesn't want to hear about another woman, here, in this house, in this tub. Shut our damn mouth or you'll screw this up for 'us'.

Sarah was not stupid or that naïve. Her female brain quick realized how the sentence that was so quickly choked off would have finished. A look at Sings Above The Mountains face confirmed it for her. Two faces looked at each other as mutual red blushes covered them.

He opened his mouth and nothing came out as seconds passed. "I, I, ah, I …"

Sarah made a split second decision. She had already considered this possibility, he had a girlfriend. Why not, he was a good looking guy. He lived in a normal world where normal relationships were possible. She tried to swallow the lump that had instantly appeared in her throat. "It's, ah, ok, I understand." She tried to smile as she continued, "I just hope she doesn't mind me being here and using her bubble bath … another woman, I mean…"

He was finally able to get his brain to provide some semblances of coherent words to stumble from his mouth. "Oh, no, it's not an issue … she, ah, we're just friends and sometimes we well, ah, umm, but we're not partnered!" The words were the best he could generate as he looked anxiously into the uneasy small female face in front of him.

Again, she was smart enough to realize that there had to be some attachment, some relationship between him and, ah, Pet, beyond just friends. The hesitant stumbling words admitted it. "I'll leave in the morning … as I said I am very grateful for all that you have done for me and I don't want to mess up anything in your life on you…" Sarah tried to sound strong and calm despite her disappointment.

Sings Above The Mountains' host memories, which he found disconcertedly 'strong', continued to berate his explanations to her. He pushed them to one side so he could focus on Sarah. He knew he needed to reassure her. "Sarah, please don't make a quick decision on anything. As I said we will talk about the future in the morning. Please relax in the bath and I'll heat up some chicken soup for us when you're finished. Oh, please don't feel you have to hurry." He tried his best to produce a genuine, sincere, reassuring smile. The small face before him responded with a tentative smile. "Ok, I'll leave now, so, you can take your bath. The towels are there, "he gestured to the sink, "with the pajamas and robe under them … if you need anything else," he stepped over and opened a small door, "ah, toothpaste, toothbrush, umm, I have most things in this linen closet. Take whatever you need, ok?" he again smiled at her.

Moments later he was gone with a quiet firm close of the bathroom door. Sarah pulled her eyes from the door and surveyed the room. Still gripping the blankets, she moved to the bubbles filled tub and reached through the sudsy layer and tested the water. Very warm, she smiled, dropped the blankets and slowly slid into the joyous pleasure of clean hot water. After a few moments of adjusting to the heat of the water, Sarah finally really relaxed for the first time.

In her mind she replayed the short conversation they had just had. She was somewhat confused. She could understand him having a girlfriend, but she wasn't sure of the rather fuzz explanation of the relationship, was he implying it was a FWB relationship? Did these creatures have those types of relationships? If they lived the life of the person they took over, hum, probably. She bit on her lip in contemplation. Despite all kinds of concerns about these aliens; she knew she was feeling something toward him that she had been trying to ignore. Now with this Pet person, thing, whatever, suddenly in the picture, it just added to her confused state of mind. She had thought that he might be feeling more toward her than pity, now, she wasn't sure. Maybe she had read more into his words and actions for her than there really were. She finally decided there was little she could do about any of it. He asked her not to make a quick decision about anything and they would talk in the morning about the future. The future, umm, what future could he mean? Probably, just tomorrow and how long she could stay and maybe, what help he might provide her to survive the coming winter. She shrugged to herself and decided she would enjoy what he offered tonight and see what he would say in the morning. With that she started scrubbing away weeks of accumulated grime.

Sings Above The Mountains stood in his kitchen staring at the cans and packages of healthy food in his panty. His eyes were fixed, but weren't seeing. Damn, he hoped Sarah wouldn't jump to the wrong conclusion and give him a chance to explain. His mind wrestled with what was the explanation of his relationship with Pet? Yes, they were friends, but not like him and Sunny. Sunny was an older closer friend, work partners, and she was life partnered with Snow, for which he was happy for her. Pet was new. Pet and he were not partnered and neither had suggested they should be. They were friends and when needed, satisfied their host's biological needs. They were both happy with the arrangement, he thought. Now, he knew his host body was generating emotional responses to Sarah that he hadn't experienced with Pet. Sunny certainly seemed to understand the differences and her descriptions of her host bodies' respond to Snow helped him realize the significant of the emotions he was feeling toward Sarah. This realization he had arrived at made the entire circumstance with Sarah that much more difficult to resolve. How could he allow a relationship to develop? She was a wild human. It was wrong that he hadn't turned her into the seekers the first day. Now what was he to do? The conflict ate at him. Through it all, one thing was clear, he couldn't give her up.

After all the mental agony he was having with his feelings, he stunned himself with the realization of a very obvious and fundamental question. How did Sarah feel about him? He really didn't know. She could have been partnered with the male that had been captured alone. It had been a week before she'd returned a second time. And then it was only when she was in a deplorable condition. He could easily be nothing more to her than a source of supply. Was he just a last resort source of support if she had no other alternatives for survival? Even the hug, was it just an acute need for comfort in her dire situation. He gripped the counter as a chill swept over him along with a roiling wave of physical nausea as the revelation that his feelings for her could very well not be reciprocated. She was certainly grateful for his help, stunned in fact by it, he recognized. Now, she was so desperate for his aid, she offered the only thing she had … herself … no, only her body, not truly the real her. It had been a frantic and embarrassingly forlorn proposition, he would never morally accept. In his heart, his host's emotional heart, and in his own silver being, he knew he wanted her, but never, never just her body as payment for his help.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Sarah stood at the entrance to the kitchen. She subconsciously licked her lips tasting the toothpaste she had used for the first time in over a month. Warm thick socks covered her feet, pulled up almost to her knees. The pajama legs cuffed up to her ankles so as not to drag on the floor. The baggy top's sleeves were as the legs, cuffed up beyond her wrists under the oversized robe's three quarter sleeves which reached almost to her fingers. She was warm for the first time in days, clean all over for the first time in a month. Her mind was resolved in the plan she had decided on. No quick decisions, she would listen to him and would gratefully accept his help in whatever way he would provide it and she would leave as soon as she felt any indication from him that she should. Whatever he was willing to give her was more than she expected. She put a tentative smile on her face as she looked across the kitchen at him leaning against the counter and said, "Hi!"

Sings Above The Mountains turned quickly and saw the source of his emotional turmoil. The small female human that had so changed his life and caused his host body to react with sensations and feelings beyond any that Sings Above The Mountains had encountered before. He swallowed nervously and tried to pull his thoughts together as he responded to her smile with his own, "Are you feeling better? Was the bath helpful?"

"Oh, yes, it was wonderful, "she responded and her smile grew.

"I'm glad to hear it … so, I have Chicken Noodle or Chicken Rice soup … do you have a preference?"

"Either would be fine…"

"Ok, we'll go with Chicken Noodle…" he said as he grabbed two small cans.

Minutes later they were at the table each with a steaming bowl of classic cold weather nourishment and an open bag of Cheetos between them. A rather uncomfortable silence had descended over the pair after the first genetic social conversation slowly wound down through awkward comments to the current silence.

Sarah felt the change. She certainly was not familiar with conversations with these aliens, but he had always been friendly and outgoing in the short time they had been together, besides the amazing levels of compassion and concern he had shown her. Now, he was quiet, something was obviously on his mind, something was bothering him. Her first thought was he must be apprehensive at her being here. It was understandable. Much as she might like to stay in the warmth and security of his home, she knew it wasn't possible for so many reasons. Pet was just one of them. She screwed up her courage and nerve to break the tension and asked him a favor, "Would it be ok, if I called you Sam?" It just would be … ah … I thought of it when I was thinking about you all this past week … ah … it was easier to think of you as 'Sam' … if it's a problem, I won't … if it's an insult or something, I don't know … so, I won't…" Sarah rambled on as thoughts of it being a potential social blunder entered her mind.

"Sam?" he questioned. She thought about him enough to conceive of a special name for him. "Certainly … I would like that…" he smiled at her now nervous blushing face.

Sarah was still nervous and stared at his face looking for, for, anything… as she bit her lip warily. "Really, I don't know what you th… ah, people call each other besides your full names…" her apprehensive word vomit continued.

Sings Above The Mountains, now Sam, smiled and reached over slowly to her hand and gently patted it a few times, "it's fine, I really do like it and I'm flattered that you thought of me to come up with it. We do tend to shorten our names when talking, especially with friends."

The tension relaxed a bit. Friendly, but careful chit chat conversation developed as they finished their meal.

"You're probably tired; we should go to bed. You need a good night's sleep. Healer's orders!" he joked with a chuckle.

Sarah smiled at his joke, while she apprehensive considered the sleeping arrangements. He had definitively rejected her 'offer' earlier…

"I'll change the sheets on the bed in the guest room. It's Star's room when she stays with me." He commented offhand.

"Star?" fell out of Sarah's mouth … oh, shit another girlfriend or FWB or whatever?

Sam's host memories immediately shouted explain, explain, across his brain. "Oh, Star is my host's younger sister; she goes to school in San Diego. Ah, umm, our hosts' parents live in LA." Sam stammered out.

God, it's a whole group of them that took over a family Sarah thought as she stared at Sam. She mentally pushed the thoughts of revulsion away and calmly said, "That's nice…"

After a little minor nervous bickering back and forth, Sarah insisted on washing the few dishes while he went to change the sheets.

Sarah found her way to the small back bedroom as Sam was absentmindedly fussing with the edges of the comforter on the bed. "I just left the dishes to dry beside the sink. I didn't know where a drying towel was or where…" again she rambled, not knowing what to say.

Sam looked over and focused his attention on Sarah. "It's fine, no big deal. I'll show you where things are tomorrow, umm, if you want, ah, and then you'll know…" Sam said, and then he worried how she might interpret his vague offhand comment.

Sarah was somewhat surprised at his casual words about showing her where things were … why would she need to know if she was leaving soon? "Ah, I, yes, that would be, umm, helpful…" she responded carefully.

"Oh, umm, I'm not scheduled at the healing center tomorrow so I'll be home and we can, ah, talk?" he said. "So, ah, I'll let you get to bed and, oh, is there anything you need?" he asked rather anxiously.

"Oh, no, I'm fine. I, ah, I … thank you …" She looked over to the bed and back to him as her emotions started to build. "I'm very grateful for all you are doing for me. I know this isn't something you should be doing and it must be hard for you to help someone like me … I know what you said about not wanting to be the cause of my … umm … anyway, it's got to be hard to deal with me, so I really do appreciate all your help." It was all she could say before the lump in her throat and the moisture spilling out of her eyes prevented more words from being uttered.

Hug her, hug her, Sam's host memories screamed across his brain. His arms twitched as he attempted to hold them down as his body leaned toward her. The small silver creature that was Sam tried to hold back the almost overwhelming human desire to hug, to hold … Sarah. He so wanted to provide comfort, reassurance, wipe the tears from her eyes, the fear from her thoughts and put a smile back on her pretty little face. He held back and the moment past. "I, I want to help you, I wouldn't do it if I didn't want to…" he replied lamely.

Sarah quickly wiped her face with her hands and plastered on a small smile. "Still, thank you."

Moments later, Sam was gone and Sarah was alone in the bedroom. She ran her fingers across the plush comforter on the full size bed as she struggled to calm her emotions. She thought for a second Sam was going to hug her, pull her into his arms and comfort her as he did earlier in the living room. She so wanted it, more than she could have imagined possible. He didn't. All her doubts were reinforced. What was she thinking, she was lucky that he was offering what he was, a bed, a real bed, with clean sheets, a warm comforter in a room to herself. It was a safe warm place to sleep for the night, better than she's had since, since this whole nightmare started years ago. She pulled back the comforter, put the robe over the end of the bed and crawled into the closest thing to heaven she'd experienced in a long time.

Sam moved around the kitchen drying the few dishes from their meal, wiping the counter, the table, a general cleanup, done in a mechanical fashion. His mind was not on any of it. He should have hugged her. He regretted he didn't. Even if she didn't have the same feelings he did, she needed the comfort, the reassurance that he wasn't regretting his decision to help her. As he turned and looked to the kitchen window, he realized the Cheetos bag wasn't there. He chuckled. No, it didn't need to be, she was here now. He sighed, turned again and headed to his bedroom.

She gasped on the edge of sleep and waking. It took a second to remember where she was. A nightmare, she was running, falling, she was alone. The imagines of her friends, now gone, passed through her mind. The final image of brother sneaking into the house in the distance, never to return, burned in her brain. She clutched the edge of the sheet, tears coming, turning to sobs, painful heart wrenching sobs she couldn't control. Alone, she felt so alone. After a time, she managed to quiet her sobs. She slipped out of the bed; paused at the door, hesitantly gripping the handle. No, she couldn't disturb him; it was the middle of the night. What would she say? What was her reason? It was crazy.

"Sam?"

Huh, what was that? Did he really hear something? Who could … Sarah? He glanced over to his digital clock. In the darkness, he saw the green numerals, 4:47.

"Sam?"

"Sarah, are you alright? What's wrong?" he quickly sat up on the edge of the bed as the door slowly opened and Sarah stood anxiously in the opening, furtively looking around. Even in the dim light, he could see the tears, the anguish on her face

"I'm sorry, I woke you, I, I don't, please, I need, I'm sor…" she choked out as she attempted to stifle her renewed sobs while tentatively walking toward him. "I feel so alone… my friends are all gone." She looked away as the tears started again. "Then it was just Josh and I … then, then him too…" A choking gasping sob broke from her and more tears.

Sam froze … Josh? The lone male, had to be… was he? An awfully combination of cold chills and hot fear swept over him in that instant.

"He's gone now… The only family I had left … my brother, I'm the only one left." She sobbed as she stopped beside him and glanced off into the darkness.

For a second his mind was numb. Brother? Brother. Then a quick feeling of what could only be considered relief, followed immediately by sadness and overwhelming concern for Sarah. This time he didn't hesitate. His hand reached for her hand and pulled her gently to sit beside him. "Come here, its ok, you're safe … I'm right here… I know it's hard…" He held her hand hoping to provide comfort to the small female that he cared more about than he could understand.

"Alone, I, I feel so, alone…" she whispered through her tears. "Can you just … hold me?" she mumbled as her eyes glanced to the bed. Arms went around her, strong comforting arms surrounded her, and she needed them more than she could understand. She clung to the last person in her life; her last hope for emotional and physical survival as they slid from sitting to lying. Safe, secure, protected, that was all she wanted and needed now. At this moment she didn't care about anything else, tomorrow was tomorrow. If it never came … she didn't care.

"Yeah, that's why I'm here … I know … it's hard." Sam mumbled as he held Sarah in his arms in his bed. He didn't think about all the concerns, the fears, her feeling for him, his feeling for her. It was now, she needed him and he wanted to fulfill her need. Protect her from her fears, take the terror from her life, and make the smile return to her face. They could talk in the morning. Worry about the future tomorrow. Something could be worked out. He would do all he could to change her life for the better. He felt her sobs quiet and her breathing slowed and calmed. He continued his quiet words and gentle stroking of her back with his fingers. He reached up and pulled the covers over them. She immediately snuggled into his side, her head tucked under his chin, her hand still gripping his shirt.

**A/N: If you would like to see the visual inspiration for this final scene, it's season six episode twenty-two of 'Bones' on Netflics. It's only about two and a half minutes, starting at twenty-four minutes fifty seconds with the digital clock's green letters at 4:47. **


	10. Chapter 10

**HERO - by Enrique Iglesias**

_Let me be your hero  
Would you dance, if I asked you to dance?_

_Would you run, and never look back?_

_Would you cry, if you saw me crying?_

_**And would you save my soul, tonight?**__  
Would you tremble, if I touched your lips?_

_Would you laugh? Oh please tell me this_

_Now would you die, for the one you love?_

_Hold me in your arms, tonight  
I can be your hero, baby_

_I can kiss away the pain_

_I will stand by you forever_

_You can take my breath away  
Would you swear, that you'll always be mine?_

_Or would you lie? Would you run and hide?_

_**Am I in too deep? Have I lost my mind? I don't care you're here, tonight  
**__I can be your hero, baby_

_I can kiss away the pain_

_I will stand by you forever_

_You can take my breath away  
Oh, I just wanna hold you_

_I just wanna hold you, oh yeah_

_Am I in too deep? Have I lost my mind? Well I don't care you're here, tonight_

_I can be your hero, baby_

_I can kiss away the pain, oh yeah_

_I will stand by you forever_

_You can take my breath away  
I can be your hero,_

_**I can kiss away the pain (I can be your hero, baby)**_

_And I will stand by you, forever_

_You can take my breath away_

_You can take my breath away_

_And I can be your hero_

**Chapter 10**

The first light of dawn filtered around the blinds, through the sheer curtain and played ever so lightly across the faces of the two species sharing more than a bed. Gentle male fingers slowly, softly, traced small circles and figure eights through the tangled brown hair, over the pajama covered shoulders, upper arm, and across the back, down as far as the beginning of the curve that foretold the start of the area they would not venture. Then they returned in an aimless pattern of caring touches to the shoulders, repeating the pajama covered route over and over again. The female slept. Calmly, restfully, her head securely positioned between his upper chest and shoulder, his cheek pressed against the top of her head. Her body lay tightly against his side with one leg over his. Her slim fingers continued to grasp his t shirt. Even in sleep, her hand gripped the fabric for the needed reassurance he was there.

Sam was again awake. He hadn't slept much since she came to his room. He lay quietly enjoying the emotions of snuggling with a female, this female, Sarah. As a healer, he was aware of the chemicals within the human host brains which influenced the emotions that Souls found so difficult to deal with. Clinically, he knew his host's brain was being bathed in dopamine, the hormone responsible for the extremely pleasurable feelings currently flooding his host. He sighed softly to himself and a small smile played across his face as his arm continued to move his fingers in the slow tracks around Sarah's back.

Sarah slowly became aware of the touch as she awoke. The light gentle touch of his fingers on her back, as they moved around in slow aimless patterns, they created in her the same emotional and physical response as in Sam. She didn't know the medical, the physiologic explanation for her reaction, the female hormone, oxytocin, responsible for her feelings. All she knew was the pleasure, the comfort, a feeling of bliss, of contentment beyond any she had ever felt. Ever felt? She stifled a moan of pleasure as she loosened her grip on his shirt and sent her hand on a journey of subtle exploration. It moved over the firm athletic muscles of Sam's chest and then back across the equally taunt stomach muscles, still very noticeable through the t shirt. Her hand froze as his hand stopped on her back and he spoke.

"Sorry, I woke you… I was just, ah, I guess, ah, comforting you?" Sam whispered nervously. "I hope it was ok?"

Her first thought was … Please God, don't let him stop. "It was ok." Her words faltered, then, "it was more than ok, it was wonderful." She immediately bit her lip.

Sam was slightly dazed by her response. "Ah, should I continue? I will if it's ok?"

Please, please, please was her immediate reaction. "Ah, ok, if you want to, ah, yes, I, ah, liked it…"

Sam's arm guided the fingers to begin anew their ministering to Sarah's needs as a smile again crossed his face. At the same moment a very similar smile appeared on Sarah's face as her eyes watched as her fingers began a slow light movement around his chest. At the same moment both bodies made slight adjustments to their respective alignments to enhance their already sensual postures.

Again, time drifted by, little noticed by the pair snuggled together. It was marked only by the advance of the sunlight over the bed. In the end the common need of full bladders was the reason for an end to the moment.

After a quick run to the bathroom, Sarah returned to the bedroom to find Sam picking out clean clothes.

"I'm going to take a shower, then I'll make us breakfast. I was thinking pancakes?" He had a sudden thought, "I have chocolate chips, would you like some in your pancakes?"

Sarah's eyes went wide. "Really, I love chocolate chip pancakes!"

Sam grinned, "Ah, why am I not surprised." He chuckled. "Why don't you go back to bed and rest some more and I'll call you when they're ready."

For a second she thought he meant the other bed, but his eyes traveled to his bed then back to her. It was clear which bed he was referring.

Minutes later she was stretched out in Sam's bed. Covered in his comforter, surrounded by his warmth, his heady male aroma, these things bolstered her feelings of security, relief, and wellbeing. Feelings she thought she had lost forever so many years ago.

When Sam returned fresh out of the shower, he quietly entered his bedroom thinking Sarah would be asleep.

"Sam, ah, can I take a shower? I couldn't do a good job on my hair in the bath… umm, I'd like to do it again… "Sarah asked warily as she peered up at him from under the covers of his bed.

"Sure, no problem. Now?"

"Yes," she responded as she slid out of the bed. "If it's ok?"

"Certainly, I'll get your cloth…" Sam immediately stopped, panicking as he looked at her as she got to her feet beside the bed. "Sarah, please don't think that because I'm getting your clothes that means I want you to leave. I don't. We have all day to talk about … ah well … things, and whatever, the future, so you can just be comfortable or …"

Sarah listened to the words and read the look of panicked concern on his face and made another quick decision. She knew he wouldn't lie, probably really couldn't, based on how easily she read his face last night. She decided she wouldn't try to read into or make hasty unfounded assumptions; she would listen carefully to his words and be honest and truthful about her feelings and her desires. She would start now and let him decide what he could do or would do. "I understand now, I was afraid last night that I was imposing, and maybe I am, but I'll let you decide." She paused a second, took a breath and went with her gut. "I want to stay with you … as long as you'll let me. I know there are a lot of risks to it, but I don't care. I'm just tired of running. Being alone, cold, afraid." Sarah looked down for a second, bit her lip and looked back up into Sam's face. "Ah, I, I have feelings for you, more than I can understand…"

Sam was stunned. His first reaction was elation. She had feelings for him. He pulled her into a hug and placed soft kiss to the top of her head. "I do too; I'm having difficulty understanding these new emotions … they're different from any others I've experienced. They kept getting stronger as I waited for you to return. I was afraid you wouldn't, I was concerned for your safety. When I saw you last night, I, I couldn't believe, I was so relieved."

"Oh, Sam, I'm so happy you… I was scared you just pitied me, just, just were being nice out of just pity.

Sam reached up to the top cabinet and snagged the small bag of chocolate chips. In the background, he heard the shower water flow stop. Stepping back over to the bowl of pancake mix, he filled the measuring cup with the recommend amount of chips, and then dumped them into the mix. He hesitated with the bag in his hand and surveyed the end result. Hum, was there enough? A few turns of the large spoon through the mixture and another pause to assess the chips to mix percentage. He deliberated the earth shaking significance of his actions. "Oh, why not..." he mumbled to himself as he poured more chips into the bowl. Another few turns of the spoon through the mixture and he was happy. He chuckled to himself thinking; given Sarah's apparent chocolate addiction the whole bag might be fine with her. Nutritionally, he knew there were more than enough in the mix as it was. He smirked; at this point she could certainly afford the additional fat calories. He would worry about a better nutritional balance for her tomorrow … tomorrow, the future … he contemplated the future. Yes, they would need to have that serious conversation about the future. For now, though pancakes needed to be cooked.

Sarah felt much better about herself now that her hair was really clean, plus, the idea of a hot shower just made her feel clearer all over. The bubble bath was an awesome luxury, but it was never her thing. The hair dryer was wonderful, it had been so long. It was probably for Star, that's as far as she would let her thoughts travel on the subject. She studied herself in the mirror for a few seconds, she couldn't remember the last time she had makeup to use, or the last time she'd even thought about it. Well, there was nothing she could do about it now. He'd seen her at her worst. With a little more poking, pulling and fiddling with her hair with her fingers and the brush he had given her, she sighed. It's the best she could do. Reaching down, she subconsciously tried to smooth out the light wrinkles on her shirt, pulled on the ragged collar to straighten it. She licked her lips then frowned at her refection in the mirror, doubts resurfaced. Why was he interested in her? Scrawny, ragged, foul mouthed pain in the ass that she was. She had no clue, but she wasn't going to stew over it. She was almost happy he was a soul … she could at least believe what he told her, not like some assholes she'd meet. With a shrug, she put down the brush, turned and headed for the kitchen.

"Hi…" Sarah said brightly.

Sam turned toward the voice. "The first three are done … butter's in the fridge … maple syrup, on the table … I hope you're hungry, I'm making a bunch. "He grinned at her as he waved the spatula to the direction of the table. Then turned back to the skillet, scooped up the three pancakes and plopped them on to a plate.

"I sure am." She responded as she headed toward him. Took the offered the plate of pancakes and headed for her spot at the table.

"I put a bottle of Health on the table, be sure to take one … Oh, have you been taking one every day?" He asked as he poured a second group in the pan.

Sarah had just settled in when she heard the question and noticed the bottle on the table next to the syrup. She looked over at his back and grinned. "What are you my mother?" and almost immediately regretted the off the cuff retort.

Sam heard the words and froze, then slowly turned around with a horrified expression on his face and the frantic thought of what did he do wrong?

As soon as Sarah saw his face she knew it was a bad joke, a big mistake. She jumped from the seat and quickly ran to his arms, "I was joking! Joking! Sorry!"

Sam dropped the spatula, bent slightly, and caught Sarah as she leaped into his arms, tears filling her eyes. "Its ok, its ok, you caught me off guard, I wasn't expecting it." He said, much relieved she was joking. "It was funny ah, kinda … the first time, though, you really confused me …" he chuckled lightly. He continued to try to calm her as he lifted her up into his arms holding her tightly. He felt her legs wrap around his waist and her arms all the way around his neck as her face pressed against his neck. He stepped away from the stove.

Sarah tried to control her fearful sobs. She was scared she had ruined everything, really upset him with her stupid comment. However, his almost immediate calming response and words helped allay her fears. Emotionally, she still needed the reassurance and wrapped herself around him and sobbed her apologies into his neck as he supported her butt with one arm and the other rubbed her back up into her hair and the back of her neck. After less than a minute, her sobs ended in sniffles. She leaned just her head back enough to see his face, hardly an inch away.

"I'm sorry I said that … it was a dumb thing to say…"

Sam continued to rub Sarah's back. "It's ok, it was funny, a little," and her neck," I just didn't know," then a gentle kiss to her forehead," so I overacted, I'm sorry if I upset you…" and then a light peck on the tip of her nose.

"Oh, no, it was my fault, I should have known it was … you wouldn't know … I'm the one…" she felt the gentle fingers on her back and neck. The kiss on her forehead was a surprise, a very pleasant one, the kiss on the tip of her nose was … she stared into his eyes. As his lips touched hers, she closed her eyes to all her worries.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: I'm using a quote for Wanderer's comforter to justify giving the Souls in this story some individuality … kinda like the real people they inhabit. **

**Kathy: 'Who knows how much comes from any host on any given planet?' (Page 51)**

**Chapter 11**

Miles away another couple was sitting down to breakfast.

"Sings and I were talking at the diner yesterday and he suddenly asked me an odd question … well odd for him." Sunny stated as she watched Snow reach for his coffee.

"So, what'd he ask, baby?" Snow replied as he took a deep sip and looked over at his now frowning partner. He waited for the anticipated reaction.

"Don't call me baby … it is a term that refers to human infants, which I am not." Sunny retorted while thinking why does he insist on calling me that?

"Sorry, babe, ok, what did he ask that was so odd?" Snow responded as he scooped up a forkful of his favorite breakfast, cheesy eggs. He smiled to himself at the knowledge of how well he knew her.

Sunny hesitated, debated for a second if she should let the babe term go… "He asked how I knew I wanted to partner with you. So I told him about the different feelings, emotions, our host bodies were giving us for each other, plus our own needs and all the discussion we had over it … anyway, you know. So, obviously I quickly knew why he asked…" Sunny then looked at Snow with her right eyebrow arched, anticipating his question.

Snow had a pretty good idea why Sings would be asking that question, but decided to play dumb. "You did, but then you are a genius. So, why did he ask?"

"Yes I am…" Sunny replied with her usual confidence, then paused a second and looked into Snow's eyes, thinking, hum, is he? "He's thinking of partnering with someone, why else." Sunny stated smugly.

Snow responded with a reasonable show of shock and surprise. "Really, did he say who?" Snow's first thought was Pet…

"Yes, but he only meet her once, about a week ago. She just showed up at his cottage. She'd been hiking in the woods and got hurt. She was lucky to find his place, so he naturally healed her and they talked." Sunny replied.

Well, certainly not Pet. Very unusual circumstance, though… Snow thought as he scooped up more of his partner's wonderful cheesy egg specialty.

"The really odd thing was he didn't get any information about her. He said his host body was overwhelming him with new emotions toward her, but he lets her leave without getting her number or where she lived … I don't know if he even got her name! Just invited her back anytime… "Sunny shook her head. "He's usually more with it than that." She hesitated and looked a little concerned. "I probably gave him a little bit of a difficult time about it. I told him the only hope he had was if her host was as interested as his, then she would be back." Sunny smirked a little this time. "Actually, I told him I guaranteed it. Then we made a wager on it…" Sunny bit her lip slightly as she looked at Snow for his reaction.

While he listened, Snow finished the cheesy egg and most of his coffee. Thinking about the story as Sunny continued to look at him in anticipation. Odd, very odd, he mused, as his seeker mind analyzed the story, why would someone be hiking by themselves, especially someone with a female host? Oh, well, he shrugged to himself and went with a different question. "Hum, so what was the wager?"

"Huh? Is that your question?" She glared at him.

"Well, just wanted to make sure you didn't get yourself into something you can't handle…" Snow again knew that would get a reaction from her and waited in anticipation.

"I can take care of myself, Snow." She snored. "It was only about pie. I said I would try pie if she didn't return in a week."

Snow couldn't contain himself as he broke into a fit of laughter.

"What's so funny?" Sunny asked slightly miffed by his reaction.

"You must be pretty sure of yourself to wager trying pie with Sings. He's been trying to get you try his favorite pie for years." Snow continued to chuckle.

"I am. I know these female human emotions a lot better than either of you guys." She retorted.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Back at the cottage the smell of burning pancakes brought the real world back into focus. With his barely free arm and hand, Sam reached over, flipped the burner off, and moved the skillet with the smoking pancakes off the hot burner over to a cold one. His arm immediately returned to its task of moving fingers around Sarah's back. "You do know your favorite pancakes are seating on the table getting cold…" he whispered in her ear.

"I don't care … I like this is much better." Sarah whispered back and snuggled even closer and laid a trail of small kisses on his neck.

At that moment Sam's host memories produced an unanticipated comment which he verbalized. "You can't live on love."

Sarah hesitated for just a second, "I'd like to try…"

Sam had barely comprehended what he had said before he heard her response. He pulled his head back enough to see her eyes inches from his. Their breath mingled in the narrow space that separated them. Seconds passed as the eyes focused in the silence of the moment.

Sam saw apprehension start to appear in the steel blue eyes inches from his. He started to smile. His smile grew … and grew.

Sarah got concerned about her response when he pulled away slightly and stared at her. He still held her close, but said nothing. She was about to release her ankles locking her legs around his waist … suddenly, a smile started, just the corners of his mouth, then wider … wider still, until his whole face reflected a joy she could hardly believe. Immediately, her face mirrored his. In the next instant, she arched into him while tightening her leg's grip, he responded, pulling her closer as lips crashed into lips, hard this time, then separated as mouths opened and tongues meet, circled, tasted, maneuvering in the ancient human dance of desire. The first wild moment of desire overtook them as four sets of fingers on four hands suddenly moved around with greater urgency, a need to know, to experience, to explorer and communicate.

Sam felt small fingers racing through his hair, gripping, slipping, over around then down his neck to his back, feeling, stroking, and caressing the tightness of his muscles under the thin cotton fabric of the t shirt. The awkward fumbling of fingers communicated to Sam her fanatic needs, her longings, and her yearnings, long buried, needing to be fulfilled. He responded.

Sarah now felt greater pressure as strong fingers gripped her neck with more insistence. Moved up into her hair, cupping the back of her small head with a possessive, but protective force she'd never experienced. She reveled in the feel of it; the strong tenderness of it. Fingers she didn't realize were there, started to press, squeeze, and stroke her small butt sending waves of emotional and physical heat overrunning, overlapping waves generated from the fingers in her hair on the back of her head, overrunning, overlapping with the waves from the kiss … a kiss more powerful than she could imagine. She basked in the joy of Sam holding her, strongly, possessively, protectively. Minutes passed.

Sam slowly pulled his head away, took in a deep breath as he attempted to rein in his host body's tremendous want for this warm soft being currently clinging snuggly to him. He just held Sarah tightly, but tenderly, supporting her weight with one arm. He kissed her nose, her cheeks, and her forehead and then leaned his forehead to hers. He locked on her eyes and smiled. "We reeaally need to talk…"

Sarah gasped in a breath of her own as she leaned back slightly and stared back into his brown eyes without thinking about the silver. "Ah … Yeah…"

Sam abruptly turned and looked at the stove then back to Sarah, grinned and chuckled. "You may think you want to live on love, but I'm sure I could persuade you to try some of my fantastic chocolate chip pancakes, hum?"

Sarah hesitated a second, then smiled shyly. "I suppose we could take a break for your fantastic chocolate chip pancakes."

An hour later breakfast was over. Sarah had stuffed herself with his pancakes almost to the point of nausea. Sam had been a little bit more restrained. Not that he was counting, but he was pretty sure they had the same number of pancakes. They washed the few dishes together and he gave her a tour of the small kitchen. Now they sat at the table, each with a hot drink. Sarah, naturally, had hot chocolate. Sam reverted to his more standard morning coffee.

The conversation during the hour had moved along through a variety of subjects … but one. Moments of nervously tension were matched with moments of light hearted humor and other moments of aimless casual nothing comments. The pendulum of conversation swung from relaxed to strained, never striking the elephant in the room. The subject that needed to be broached…

Sam smiled apprehensively over to Sarah. A bright smile was returned as she lifted her head up from her mug. Inside his head, host memories were sending words, emotions, and desperate pleas for action rocketing around like fireworks in his brain. If the silver being that was Sings Above The Mountain was not having its own crisis of confidence, he would have been more concerned about the host memories abilities to affect him so much. He knew the time had arrived, ill at ease conversation was over, and a strained silence had descended on them. He had to say something to her.

Sarah was anxious. She returned his smile optimistically, knowing that the strain of the silence was getting to be almost unbearable. The past hour had been a wild swing of emotions for her. The hug, the kiss, being held so tightly, tenderly, could she think, lovingly, had sent her emotions, her feelings for him, to a place and level she didn't know was possible. Now she waited for him to bring up the question, the issue, the future. She wasn't sure of the reason for the delay. The conversation while eating and then after, had ranged from strained to light. Now, it was still as they sat in a strained silence.

Suddenly words … "I have feelings for you and I don't want you to leave. Please stay … you can stay in the spare bedroom. I'll protect you … support you. It's getting colder … and, and winter. You shouldn't try to live by yourself outside in this weather." Emotional, random, disjointed words and phrases poured out as his mind tried to make some sense of the overwhelming thoughts he gathered from the host memories and the ones the host memory threw out at him. "I know it's a risk for you and I'll understand… but I, I really want you to stay… I like you, a lot … I, I …"

For a few seconds, Sarah listened to the words. Not so much the individual words, but the emotion, the meaning, and the meaning was clear. She had thought about her reaction if he offered to let her stay. She had tried to make sense of her feelings for him, her stupid, illogical, irrational feelings. She had hoped he had similar feeling, she thought he had, but there was still some doubt. The details of staying barely crossed her mind at this moment. If he offered, she would stay. Fuck the details; she wanted to stay for more than the warm shelter, the food, no, for him. This crazy alien who saved her life so many times, who provided comfort, protection, and cared for her when he shouldn't have, he was why she would stay. "Oh, Sam…" She was up and out of her chair and into his open arms in seconds.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Sam's phone rang. For a second both of them froze. Sarah quickly extricated herself from Sam's lap. But Sam swiftly grabbed her hand keeping her close as he pulled out his phone. A glance and he saw the picture of his friend … Pet. Instantly an inappropriate human word blew up in his brain … Shit!

"Ah, hi, Pet, how are you?" Sam answered glancing over to Sarah.

Sarah eyes grew to the size of dinner plates and she started to pull away. Sam's hand didn't let her go.

"Hi Sings, I'm fine, and you?" a small feminine voice responded with the usual social reply, but with a slightly anxious tone. "I was wondering if I could come over … and we could talk about something…"

Sam hesitated as a stream of even more inappropriate human swears bubbled up from the recesses of his host memories. Sarah's brain had no filter, so her inappropriate human swears had full rein to rail about in her head. Fortunately, she bit her lip and held her breath to keep them contained.

The poor silver being that was Sings About The Mountains, paused trying to find a reasonable response to the question posed by Pet. It should be a simple request. In any other situation, the answer would be quick and easy.

Sarah looked in Sam's confused uncertain face and mouthed. 'I'll leave…' and gestured between herself and the door.

Sam finally understood Sarah's nonverbal communication and was thankful for the save. "Ok, Pet, sure, ah, now?"

"Ah, yeah, about twenty minutes or so, I won't stay long, if that's ok?" Pet slightly relieved voice responded.

"Ok, fine … ah, I'll see you then…" Sam managed to get out as he ended the call and breathed a sigh of relief.

The next ten minutes were spent in a fanatic uncoordinated effort to remove any evident of Sarah having been in the cottage. Fifteen minutes after the call from Pet, Sarah and Sam were on the back porch. Sarah had a sweatshirt hoodie of his that was almost to her knees covering most of her body. A blanket was under her arm, her backpack and full water bottle over her shoulder.

Sam held her face in his hands. "Remember, I'll put the Cheetos bag in the window as soon as she leaves. Don't go far; she shouldn't be here long… You will come right back, won't you? "

Sarah smiled up into his concerned face. "Oh, yeah, after your fantastic chocolate chip pancakes, you're never going to get rid of me." Then she giggled. The first giggle, her first happy girly giggle in…

Sam smiled slightly, and then kissed her, pulling her into a quick hug, putting his lips up to her left ear, he whispered those three words … 'I love you.'

Sarah walked slowly across the field toward the big tree. Warmth, not from the sweatshirt that covered her, warmth, not from the bright sun that shined on her, the warmth that flowed throughout her was from just three words. He cared… Someone cared for her.

Sam leaned against the counter in the kitchen trying to control the panting from the nerves and the physical running around his cottage to insure everything was normal? He glanced at the clock on the stove; it had been almost twenty minutes since the call. Pet was usually punctual, just as he was. It was a normal part of the honest, considerate nature of souls.

Knock … knock … knock…

"Come in, come in…" Sam responded to the knock as he headed into the living room and watched the front door open. An average sized, attractive female tentatively entered the house. Worried hazel green eyes in the pretty face surrounded by blond waves quickly scanned around and settled on Sings. Apprehensive smiles were exchanged. For different reasons, unknown to each other, the usual hug was not the usual hug.

A few words of anxious social interaction were exchanged as Sam took her coat and lead her into the kitchen.

"Coffee?" Sam asked.

"Sure, that would be great…" Pet responded as she settled in the seat so recently vacated by a creature she would have been terrified to have encountered.

If there had been a meter or some measuring device for human interpersonal tension somewhere in that kitchen, it would be recording measurements similar to those from just an hour earlier.

Sam quickly made up two cups of coffee while both souls did as souls would do, attempted to engage in calm conciliatory social conversation despite a level of internal angst each carried. The reasons of which were unknown to the other.

As he brought the cups to the table and settled into his seat, Sam suddenly realized in his caring soul nature that his friend was distressed. In the next second, it occurred to him they hadn't talked in over a week. He hadn't called or even thought about her since … Sarah. He immediately felt guilty for not being the friend he should be. Somehow, though, her look, her demeanor, didn't fit with that level of concern. The call should have been all that was needed to clear up such a concern. She wanted to see him in person. There had to be something else.

Finely manicured nails nervously tapped the cup of coffee as Pet looked over at Sings. "Ah, Sings, I, ah, Gen and I have been talking … a lot and … we're thinking about partnering…" she blurted out and immediately turned red looking down into her cup for a second before forcing her eyes back up to assess her friend's reaction.

Sam was stunned. Gentle Breeze was in their circle of friends, but he hadn't realized that Pet and Gen had that level of interest in each other beyond the friendship they all had for the fellow members of their social group. He quickly collected his thoughts and pulled up a sincere smile. "Ah, I'm happy for you. I suppose I'm surprised, but really I'm very happy for you and Gen. You deserve to be happy."

Pet was a little surprised at his response, but relaxed a bit and smiled tentatively. "Thank you, thank you … I was concerned for your feelings. I know I hadn't said anything to you about Gen … it kind of started suddenly and developed faster than we expected. I'm sorry to surprise you with the news, but I did want to tell you as soon as we knew that it was something, umm, real … I want us to still all be friends." She looked at him hopefully. "I know you were a little, ah, upset, ah, when Sunny and Snow partnered, but you and she seem like best friends again." Pet bit at her lip and smiled anxiously in his direction.

Sam's brain was overwhelmed with a mixture of thoughts and emotions. His host memory suddenly presented a picture of a male human doing a very odd dance, arms shaking, frantically opening and closing its mouth while moving the upper half of its body left and right repetitively? The words, Happy Dance, then appeared in his brain. Again, he considered it all inappropriate human behavior and ignored it. "Pet I'm fine, I understand, these things happen. You never know when the right partner will come along. When they do, you have to be willing to make the decision to do the right thing for you and that person. Your friends will understand. I will always be your friend; I understand and wish you the best."

A few minutes of friendly conversation ensued as Pet described her rapidly developing relationship with Gen. Sings responded with similarly friendly congratulatory comments. Soon, they both stood. In a minute they were at the front door. Sings helped her with her coat, while they both made gentle, comforting, and supportive conversation for each other. After a warm hug between friends, Pet left.

Sam slumped on his sofa. His mind was a windmill of thoughts, feelings, reactions, and … relief. For a second, he felt guilty for the relief. He let it pass, he knew Pet was happy. Now, Sarah and him… Things couldn't have worked out better. He leaped from the sofa and raced out to the porch. Hanging on the rail, his eyes scanned the tree line.

Sarah sat comfortably against the back of the big tree. She had ensured she was well hidden. Her thoughts rolled around all points of the compass. First thing was what did Pet want? Why did she need to talk to Sam in person? She gazed off into the woods as the various possible reasons crossed her mind. She couldn't think of anything that couldn't have been said over the phone, other than maybe breaking up with someone. Only total douche bags broke up over the phone or by text. She snickered to herself as a famous such incident between two singers occurred to her. It couldn't be the case anyway, so she dropped the thought. Well, whatever it was she was very pleased that Sam actually held her hand as he talked on the phone. Kept her close … trust… Then the words, those three words, she was, was, surprised, it was so soon, but she was oh so happy. She could hardly believe… Again, she felt no cold … it could have been zero, all she felt was glowing inner warmth.

Sam didn't see her but just knew she was behind the tree. He took off from the porch and covered the field in record time. He knew he startled her as he rounded the tree reached down grabbed her up into his arms. Immediately, her arms were around his neck and her legs wrapped around his waist. He turned and slowly walked back to the house as she again clung to him.

Minutes later they were in the cottage living room on the sofa. His sweatshirt tossed over the nearby chair, her backpack and water bottle in the corner. Sam was seated in the center of the sofa. Sarah was on his lap, facing him. Her butt rested on top of his knees, her knees on each side of his hips, hands on his shoulders, eyes locked on his face as she listened silently to his account of Pet's visit. Sam hands idly stroked her hips as he described Pet's surprising confession. After he explained the basics, he paused and waited for a reaction from her, their eyes focused on each other.

"So," Sarah hesitantly started, "are you, ah, ok, with it?" she was very unsure of what his reaction was, or should be. Her limited high school experience before Brian was not very helpful to her in this current adult situation. She was also unsure how different soul relationships were, beside her total lack of objectivity in the circumstance. So, she tried to be calm and supportive while inside her brain was screaming halleluiah.

"Actually, I am … at first I was surprised, maybe even a little shocked. But, we were just friends, like I told you last night, and we are still going to be friends. Just now, it'll be just friends. Is that, ah, you understand?" Sam looked careful at Sarah, trying to judge her reaction. He continued, "I , well, I guess I felt a little guilty at first because my feeling for you have been so strong that I hadn't seen or talked to Pet since I meet you. You were all I could think about. I was afraid of how I would tell her I found someone I had strong, different feelings for, ah, partnering feelings is how Sunny described them." Sam hesitated as he saw Sarah's right eyebrow arch slightly and a small frown appear on her face.

Oh, shit, who is Sunny, maybe a guy this time? Sarah hoped, as she couldn't help the change that came over her face, despite the very encouraging words she was hearing.

Sam pushed on. "I asked her…"

Oh, fuck, another woman! Sarah tried not to react. Doesn't he have any guy friends? She thought.

"about how she knew when she and Snow decided they wanted to partner, so she…"

Huh, she's partnered? I really need to ask what this partnering shit really means… Sarah's brain was now a mixture of relief and confusion.

"explained how different the human host emotions are for partnering rather than just reproduction." Sam paused again as he saw the combination of emotions flow across Sarah's face.

"Ok, ah, so who is Sunny?" Sarah asked tentatively, skipping the partnering and reproduction comments for now.

"She's my best friend; we've worked together since we arrived on this world." Sam replied.

"And you say she's, ah, partnered with someone else?" Sarah questioned.

"Yes."

"But, she's your best friend?"

"Yes."

"Ahh, ooo K… "


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Sarah looked at him carefully while trying to be calm and mature. Partnering?

"Sam, you've said partnering a couple of times, uh, what, or how do you define it?" Sarah asked, thinking she really needed to understand how Sam defined the word in a relationship, which is what it seemed to mean.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I just, well, it's how we, ah, us Souls, define a life commitment between us. On this world, it hasn't been as, uh, hum, easy? Well, that's probably not the best word, umm. The human emotions are much stronger than any other host beings. Then having the reproduction process so closely involved with the partnering, which I guess you use the word, ah, mating?" He looked at her questioningly.

Sarah just stared. This conversation was getting very involved. "Well, yeah!" Her mind suddenly locked on to three words and they were not the three wonderfully warm words from earlier. "What do you mean other host beings?"

Sam was suddenly very uncomfortable as he realized Sarah probably had no idea of the number of the Soul's host worlds. "Ah, Sarah, this is not the only world we inhabit. Humans are not the only host beings for us." He now had an almost sick feeling as he saw a look of horror spread across her face.

Sarah was, was, she wasn't sure how she felt. It had never occurred to her or her friends that these creatures were … had … this wasn't the only place they had invaded. We weren't the only people to be taken over by these parasites. She didn't move. For a brief second she thought to leap up and run… She didn't. She sat motionless on his lap as she slowly moved her hands from his shoulders to clasp them together against her mouth as she stared in his eyes, silver ringed eyes.

"Sarah?" Sam was no expert on human emotions, but he could easily see she was emotionally distraught at this revelation. His hands remained on her hips and continued the slow and gentle massage.

"I, I, I never thought about … details … there would be others… I don't know…" her mind was a confused turmoil of random thoughts, emotions, and visions.

"I'm sorry, if I, ah, upset you; there isn't much I can say … it is how we live, how we survive." Sam eyes were full of concern and now apprehension. He worried that her feelings for him were gone in a moment. It hadn't occurred to him before. Now, though he could see it in her eyes, the look on her face, the issue, the problem.

After a few more moments of two sets of eyes boring into each other, Sarah stopped the agonized thinking. In an instant, she just decided, fuck it, nothing she could do about it, she had to think about herself, her survival and maybe her happiness. For all she knew she was the last human left. They won. Her only hope of survival and happiness was the being that faced her. He had saved her life and now offered her a new life. This new information while horrifying in the grand scheme didn't change her situation. She swallowed, dropped her hands down and grasped his and held them as she spoke. "I don't really want to talk about that now. I just want to know what relationship we can have…"

Sam was stunned by the change in her. The horror was gone, but the happiness was gone too. She was calm. Oddly calm. "I, I want to talk about a partnering relationship with you…" Sam replied honestly, but with unease at her new demeanor.

"Why?" she asked bluntly. "I'm not a soul, I'm human..." she knew she shouldn't have been so cold. She could lose something that she needed and she knew in her heart she still wanted. Subconsciously, she tightened her grip on his hands.

Sam again was stunned. The question was so direct, harsh, almost a challenge. But, she didn't try to leave or even pull away. He felt her hands on his, holding tight. Sam's mind was confused. How, what should he say? How could he adequately describe his feelings? His host's emotional and physical reactions, to her? "Sarah, I feel things, emotions, desires for you I have not felt before…"

"You or the body you're in?" Sarah blurted out again, and then bit her lip in fear of what she had asked, how she had asked it, but more in fear of his answer. She continued to hang on to his hands, her thumbs now stroking where they could reach.

Sam hesitated a second. As Sarah waited for an answer, Sam mentally combined his host's deep emotional and physical feelings for her with his own uniquely Soul needs for partnering and companionship. "Both." He said decisively. "The physical and emotional feelings and desires of this body for you are stronger than I have ever felt for any other. My needs as a Soul are different from these human needs. As Souls we don't have the same emotions, we have, I don't know how to describe it, but again they are wants for the companionship of another, throughout life. It's so different; it's difficult to articulate…" Sam paused, hoping he had managed to provide some answer to her question. But now, he had to ask her something. So, before she could respond, he asked her," Why, are you interested in me, a Soul." Then he asked a rather non Soul like question that had never really completely left his mind. "Is it just gratitude for my help, and need for my continued help?" Despite his similarly harsh honest questions, his hands continued to hold and stroke her hands.

Sarah was happy with his answer. It wasn't a romance novel answer, not that she knew what that really would be, but it would do. Then his sudden question and the quick follow up. It was a stabbing accusation that went to the heart of any qualms she had left. It caused a wave of guilt, uncertainty of her true motivations in this situation. Her mind attempted to formulate as honest an answer as she could despite her fear. Subconsciously, she felt his hands still holding hers and she continued to hang on to his. The connection provided comfort and reassurance for both. She pursed her lips. "I, I guess there might be some still… but I do feel things for you that I haven't felt in a long time. When you whispered in my ear … I, I felt, I don't know, a joy, that I didn't think I would ever know again. Last night and this morning when you held me, comforted me, the feelings were so much more, stronger, than I can remember feeling. Love … I, I, its too soon, there are too many things that I have to get over, get beyond. I'm sorry…" The moisture that had developed in her eyes now overflowed and ran down her cheeks. She glanced down into his chest.

Sam saw the tears break over the lids and flow down over Sarah's cheeks. He hesitated, not sure of a response that she would accept after the last few minutes of difficult conversation. He watched for the slightest of negative reaction in her as he gently removed his hands from hers. In a slow accent, his hands reached her face, paused for just an instant. Gently, with a thumb on each side of her face, he wiped her tears away and moved both palms under her chin and cupped her face, lifting it up so he could look deeply into her eyes. "I understand. This is all a lot of things to take in quickly. I will answer any questions. Help you understand. Let you decide." He paused again and watched her eyes. "I care about you, for you. I will protect you and support you as much as I can for as long as you want."

Sarah hardly felt his hands leave hers as she stared at his chest, her eyes focused on, but not really seeing the red hog symbol of the Arkansas Razorbacks. Her brain was questioning her every word, her every doubt in the situation. She'd been honest, probably too honest, but she knew she needed time to think. Be sure of her feelings, emotions. She suddenly felt his hands on her face. Gentle, caressing hands with thumbs that wiped away her tears, palms that cupped her face, and lifted her eyes back to his. Words… she listened to generous, consoling, understanding words. Unbelievable words, promises … she couldn't help the tears as they flowed again. She just let herself do what she really wanted to do … couldn't prevent herself from doing. She leaned into him, pulled herself into his arms, and cried on his shoulder as the strong male hands and fingers now lightly, gently and with remarkable caring, comforted her.

Over an hour passed. The tears were long gone. Conversation flowed. At times the honesty was difficult for both. Sarah had moved from his lap to beside him. Their hands maintained the connection they both needed to get through the thorny discussion. Sam talked about the worlds of the Souls. He described Singing World, his last world. A world without sight, but it was alive with sounds, the beautiful songs of many voices. Mist World, where Sunny and Snow had been. He portrayed the ice and snow, transformed by the bears into the beauty of a rainbow of colors seen through the prism of their ice sculptures. Pet's last world, Flower World, a world of brilliant colorful life, flowers swaying in gentle breezes, reaching for their sun. Worlds so different from earth, from any her imagination could envision. She listened. She tried not to think of the reality, the reason why he knew of these amazing worlds. The one brief thought she couldn't ignore … of sentient beings, lost, just as humans here on earth, lost to his species.

Sarah talked about her life, before and now. Parents, brother, friends, school and Brian, she talked about all the pleasant memories of her life, her normal life, before. She relayed her dreams of college, journalism, her dream of writing, reporting, using words to bring the world of ideas to people. She smiled, he smiled. Smiles were few. Most of her descriptions had an underlining tone of bitterness, regret, and loss. He listened, but knew there was nothing he could say or do to change the past. Through it all, she didn't pull away. Her hands remained in his, accepting his personal comfort, his acknowledgement of her loss. He was quiet through most of her narrative. He didn't try to deny, explain or justify. He listened.

Toward the end, the words faltered and a relatively comfortable silence occurred. She was leaning against him. Her head against his bicep while his arm rested across the back of the sofa with his hand reaching down her arm. Fingers provided gentle random caresses. His head leaned over hers with his cheek resting on her crown. Both of them were deep in thought.

Sam's thoughts wandered back to his earlier concerns, guilt, if he truly thought about it, from before Sarah. This planet was different, these beings, this species was different from any other on any of the other worlds they had 'acquired'. He had trouble mentally quantifying the difference, but he knew it was the real reason for his hesitation, his actions a week ago.

Sarah's thoughts were a little more pragmatic. She was surprised that he didn't try to defend his species actions, here or on the other worlds. He listened. He provided a level of comfort that was unexpected in the situation. She could only be amazed again at him. So, she returned to her original decision. Realistically, there were no other choices. As she contemplated all he had said about Souls, their other worlds, a sudden realization struck her. He had talked about bats, bears, flowers and weeds and how they all lived, but nothing about how Souls started, where they originated and … ah … continued their species. Her mind tried to imagine… Souls were small, must be to fit in the back of someone's neck. She had never seen one. Do they have a head? Body, arms, legs, umm, hum. How do they… Anyway, maybe it didn't matter… the body he was in, the one that held her, comforted her, kissed her … well, maybe she really didn't want to know… Shit, yes she did. She glanced over and up. He lifted his head slightly, looked down at her and smiled. She hesitated; they had certainly talked about more challenging subjects, still she felt oddly embarrassed. "Ah, Sam? How do you guys, ah, have … ah, reproduce?"


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

The phone rang. Sunny turned quickly thinking maybe Snow was calling from the office and he might be able to get off early after all. She grabbed her purse and fished around as the ringing repeated. Finally, she had it and recognized the picture of Pet on the screen.

"Hi, Pet, how are you…" Sunny answered in her usual pleasant upbeat tone.

"Hi Sunny, I'm fine…" Pet respond automatically.

"So, what are you up to on this beautiful Saturday morning?" Sunny continued, being pleasantly surprised by Pet's call. Thinking with Snow probably gone for the day maybe they could get together, maybe a little shopping, some girl time.

"Ah, I need to tell you something…" Pet voice was now apprehensive.

Sunny picked up on the change immediately. "Is there something wrong?"

"Well…" there was a short pause, then Pet blurted out the whole story of her and Gen and going to see Sings to explain.

Sunny hesitated, remembering her conversation with Sings at the diner. She would not lie, but she didn't think she should offer the personal information that Sings had told her. Besides, the girl might not return, the whole thing could come to nothing. So, she responded in a typically soul fashion. "I'm happy for you and Gen. It's always wonderful when you find the right partner. I'm sure Sings is happy for the two of you."

"I hope so …, actually other than the initial surprise, he seemed ok with it, but I don't know … he just seemed, I don't know different, nervous … I was just thinking that maybe you could check with him to be sure he's ok. You guys are best friends and maybe he could use someone to talk to… I don't … I…" Pet's worried words trailed off

"Certainly, I'll do that…" Sunny respond, "Maybe I'll make up my special Mac and Cheese and surprise him for lunch."

"That would be great! I'm sure he'd appreciate it." Pet replied with relief in her voice. "He loves your Mac and Cheese!"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Sam was stunned for a second. He looked down into the steel blue eyes that returned his look warily. The first thought he had was it was going to be another difficult conversation. He feared she was going to be shocked by the reality. In the few seconds of hesitation his mind flashed over the short amount of time he had spent with Sarah. The entire experience had been more wildly disturbing and but also more wildly exciting, than all his other lives on all the other worlds combined. He was very apprehensive. He knew it was a subject that needed to be discussed, something to be explained. Actually, it should be easier, a simple explanation of his species. But, still he sucked in a nervous breath and started.

Sarah watched Sam's eyes for the few seconds after she asked the question. She still felt an odd embarrassed apprehension. It was almost like asking someone to explain sex. A brief memory of an early teen experience crossed her mind. She remembered the sharing of random tidbits of general half truths between giggly girl friends. However, this time it was totally difference. Not because it was a guy and they were adults already into some kind of a relationship. No, it was the idea it was a total unknown to her. She hadn't a clue as to what he would say, would describe. She subconsciously chewed at her lower lip nervously.

"Well, the process is much simpler that human reproduction. We ar" Sam stopped suddenly, thinking what does she know about Souls? She probably has never seen us outside a host body. "Ah, Sarah, I don't know what you know about us, ah, physically…" he paused and looked at her carefully.

"I've never seen a … ah, Soul, ah your species, ah, outside?" Sarah stated anxiously. "But, you must be small? To fit inside…"

"Yes, we are about three inches long, about an inch wide, and about a quarter of an inch thick." Sam explained. "We have a thousand, ah; connections or maybe they'd look like antennae to you.

"Do you have a head? A body?"

"No, not in the way you think of it. We need a host body to feel, to sense, to interact with the external environment of whatever host world we live on. Without a host, we can't live, we can't survive." Sam continued to look into a pair of steel blue eyes that got bigger and bigger as he continued.

"Ok, so ah, if you're inside a host, ah, how do you get together to, you know, whatever you do to, ah, have babies?" Sarah was confused. How could it be simpler if they're inside another thing? Being?

Sam could see this was just getting her confused and decided to cut to the chase. "Do you understand the principal of asexual reproduction?"

Sarah's jaw dropped. Quickly, high school biology class was front and center in her memories. She was glad she had paid attention, somewhat. Asexual reproduction was for single celled things like amebas? She thought… Huh? "Ah, yeah, a single celled animal that reproduces by just splitting into two … so how does that work for you?" She asked tentatively.

"Close, we really don't have a cell structure like creatures on this planet, but we reproduce by splitting into more individuals." Sam explained carefully.

"So, how many can you spit into?"

Well, I'm not a mother, so I can't reproduce. A mother can split into about a million new individuals."

Sarah was stunned by this bit of information. "Sooo, Pet or ah, Sunny could become a million more of you?" She asked stunned by the thought.

"Ah, no, they aren't mothers either…"

"But they're female?"

"Well, no, we are all the same, well, from a Soul reproduction viewpoint. Only about one in ten thousand of us can be a mother, have the potential to reproduce. It doesn't matter which sex our host body is, we can function just as well in either gender. I could be in Sunny's host or Pet's and either of them could be in mine and we would adapt equally well." Sam suddenly shut his mouth as he saw a look of horror appear on Sarah's face. He had to explain quickly. "Sarah, please, try to understand, I'm in a male human body. I have adapted to this male body. I have in many ways become a male human. I don't have female human experiences. I'm different in that way from Pet and Sunny. Please understand… When I told you I had feeling for you, emotional, physical feeling for you, I was describing the feelings of this male human body for you and your female human body. The partnering feelings were both my body and me. As Souls we partner for lifelong companionship, there is no reproduction aspect to the need or feeling. " Sam clung desperately to Sarah's hands. Hoping she was hearing his explanation, his plea for her understanding, he stared into her shocked eyes.

Again, Sarah had an urge to run. A wild irrational urge to get away from the whole crazy, crazy, whatever he was… She hesitated. Her logical mind fought through the emotional mishmash of fear, uncertainty, and moralistic philosophical concern to arrive at one overriding epiphany. Through all their talk, their grueling wrangle over their perceptions of each other, the intelligence in front of her cared about her, for her and now was pleading for her understanding. She looked into his eyes and saw the same creature that had saved her life, more than once. He had held her with great tenderness when she needed it. She considered all that he had said. Now a difference notion bubbled to the surface of her mind to be weighted. Her eyes suddenly dropped from his face and moved down. Over the t-shirt with the red hog mascot that covered strong masculine chest muscles her fingers remembered. Over the words, Arkansas Razorbacks, which covered the very male six-pack of stomach muscles her fingers had explored. Lower still to an area that her body was interested in; more interested than she really wanted to acknowledge at this moment. She quickly brought her eyes back up to his and her mind back to the matter at hand while trying to ignore a very warm physical reaction to her few seconds of indulgence.

Sam watched Sarah intently, waiting for a reaction; hoping for her at least to remain calm. Maybe ask some questions that he could answer to clarify… anything but blank silence. As he saw her eyes look down slowly, he was concerned. He was afraid she was turning off. Not seeing. He didn't know what he should say … do. Suddenly his host memories offered a totally difference explanation of her peculiar slow survey of him. He was shocked and surprised by the thought. For a second he considered the possibility, the hope. Again, he finally dismissed it as … well maybe not inappropriate human thought, but, at this moment, more likely wishfully naïve human male thought. "Ahh, are you, ah, do you have questions? Can I explain anything … more?" an almost desperate tone was evident in his question.

Sarah looked into the pleading look in his eyes, the anxious tone to his fumbling question. She deliberated her next move as she judged and weighted all he had said in the last hours, all he had said and done in the days she had known him. In the few seconds of deep contemplation, her feelings, her physical and emotional needs for him, the human male body and the Soul intelligence inside, out weighted all the details they had talked about. In her mind the scale of judgment tilted one way. The corners of her lips curled slowly up as she moved toward him.

Sam sat quietly waiting, staring into her eyes. He swore he could almost see her brain working to digest and analyze the information she'd been overwhelmed with. Huh, a confusion of hope and fear suddenly overcame him as she moved toward him. She climbed back on to his lap facing him in the same position as before as a soft smile grew on her face. The joy that engulfed him was overpowering. He could only hope she had made a decision that all the unsettling details they had talked about could be worked on, overcome. Her feelings for him were strong enough. She didn't run, she didn't move away. She was back in his arms. He held her tight, stroking her back again. He felt her fingers on his neck, slow soft tentative strokes on his…

She had her arms around his neck as she settled on to his lap, into his arms. In an instant, she knew what would tell him of her decision, more than words could ever say. She tentatively, but purposely moved her fingers to his insertion scar. She had avoided it before, now she softly moved her fingers gently over it, around it, feeling the very slight differences in the feel of it. She leaned into him, her head moved beside his head, then continued around toward the back of his neck, as close as she needed for her lips to reach. She kissed … her hero.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

"Surprise," Sunny gleefully announced as she swung open the front door of the cottage. A second later, as she took in the intimate embrace on the sofa, "Oh, I'm sorry … I didn't know … Ohh… Human!" she gasped as her silver ringed blue green eyes locked on to the terrified steel blue eyes of the small human that was struggling to get off of Sings.

Sarah froze for an instant at the sound of the voice. A quick turn to see the owner of it and she was on the move, pushing off Sam, trying to get to her feet to escape.

Sam reached out as Sarah was franticly pushing away. He managed to hang on to one of her arms for a couple of seconds causing Sarah to spin around ending up flopping back down on to the end of the sofa facing up directing at Sunny.

Sunny dropped her insulated bag with lunch, reached into her pocketbook and grabbed the spray bottle of sleep she always carried for protection. A few quick steps brought her a couple feet from the wild human. A well aimed shot and it was unconscious in seconds, slumped half hanging over the arm of the sofa. She took a deep breath and looked to Sings to be sure he wasn't hurt in the attack by the wild human. She was stunned by what she saw. Sings was up and over, picking the small human up into his arms. Hugging it, stroking its back, he appeared to be trying to comfort the creature, all the while pleading, Sarah … Sarah?

The last thing Sarah saw was the bottle pointed at her as she tried to pull out of Sam's grasp and then the smell of raspberries…

Sam took a few seconds to come to terms with what had just occurred. For the moment he focused on Sarah. He knew she was fine. Sunny would only have sleep and that certainly looked like all it was. He carefully laid her out on the sofa, adjusted her position to make her comfortable and gently brushed the hair from her face. He hesitated just a moment looking at her now calm peaceful face then leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. He swallowed nervously as his fingers traced a caring path down Sarah's cheek as he stood, then turned to face his best friend.

"What? … Who? … "Sunny stammered, trying to make some kind of sense of what had just occurred in front of her. For a second she had the horrible thought that she had made a terrible mistake. Maybe she had missed the silver in the eyes. She had been sure just moments before, but Sings actions now caused her to doubt what she was sure she had seen. "I'm so sorry; I thought for sure it was a wild human attacking you…"

"Her name is Sarah." Sam paused and looked in Sunny's now sorrowful eyes. "She's the girl I was telling you about yesterday at lunch."

"Oh, no, I'm so, so sorry I was so sur…" Sunny's heartfelt apologies were cut off.

"She's a wild human…" Sam stated.

Sunny's mouth froze half open at the words.

"She's the small female from the group Flame Tender was telling us about. He thought she hadn't survived. She almost didn't." Sam explained as he looked into his friend's flabbergasted face.

Sunny stared at Sings. Her brain was stuck trying to make sense of the situation, the words, the story she was hearing. Her eyes glanced over to the creature sleeping calming on her best friends sofa then back to his nervous face. "Wwwhy, is it here?"

Sam looked straight into Sunny's questioning eyes, "_She_ is here because I asked _her_ to stay. I promised her I would care for her and protect her … and I will." The words came out in a tone not usual between souls.

"I told you yesterday, when she left a week ago that I asked her to return and I hoped she would, and she did, last night." Sam tried to compose his voice and his mental state.

"You never said she was a wild human!" Sunny exclaimed. Sunny was now more upset that most Souls ever get as she pointed an accusing finger in horror at the small form lying on the sofa.

"Well, I, ah…" Sam was tense and anxious under his friend's accusatory glare. "I obviously couldn't tell you that, but everything I said was correct. I just left out that one, ah, thing…"

Sunny glared at Sings for another few seconds then slowly relented. Her soul temperament overcame the host emotions and she took a deep breath. "Why? What were you thinking? A wild human? Why didn't you call Snow or Flame Tender when it arrived?" She asked in a slightly more composed tone.

Sam paused again, attempted to gather his thoughts to explain to Sunny his irrational, illogic actions. "She was starved, scared, hurt, badly hurt, in a lot of pain. I, I couldn't let her suffer. I had to help her. I knew right away she wasn't a child, and what that meant… I thought about it while she slept and I healed her injuries. I knew I should have called, I even tried a couple of times … I, I just couldn't … I couldn't be the cause of her death. Then, I developed these feelings … I thought it was just pity for any helpless creature, but… it was more … and the next morning, when we talked…" Sam remembered how that had gone at first and decided again that there were some details he best not relate to Sunny. He hesitated again.

Sunny's eyes swelled and her eyebrows rose as she remembered their conversation at the diner and Sings' questions. How could… it's a …

The two friends stated at each other in a tense silence as seconds ticked by.

Sam suddenly blurted out a semi-related, but certainly a bit inappropriate for the tense situation, comment. "She returned, just as you guaranteed she would. So, I guess you don't have to try pie…" Sam let a small smirk cross his face as he stared at Sunny.

Sunny hesitated, considering the remark. She suddenly broke the impasse, rolled her eyes, shook her head and smirked back. "What have you gotten yourself into…?"

Sam shrugged, "Like you said one time, you can't always pick the person you develop partnering feelings for…" He then turned serious as he looked over at Sarah. "She's the one." Sam stated as he looked back at Sunny. "We've talked a lot since yesterday. Very difficult conversations. She has feeling for me, even after all the tough things we had to discuss.

Sunny looked at Sam warily. "Humans lie, you know that…"

"Yeah, I know, and maybe I'm naïve, but I don't think so … she asked me some very demanding questions about us, our species. She challenged my feelings for her, as a wild human. I responded honestly, obviously, but I also demanded the same of her. I thought she answered honestly. She said she still needed time to be sure." Sam shrugged again as he looked over at Sarah. "If she was lying and just wanted to use me for support and protection, she wouldn't have been so hesitate, she would have easily told me what I wanted to hear.

Sunny looked at him, "Did you say you had partnering feelings first?"

"Well, yeah, I did, but we had already had some involved difficult conversations … I felt a response from her, feelings. Yeah, I know, maybe they were just gratitude for my help and sure maybe that's all she felt at first, but I know it's more now. "Sam said almost defiantly. He paused to regain control and calm down. "You told me how difficult these human emotions for partnering are to understand. Believe me; I certainly know what you were talking about now."

Sunny was silent as she took in Sam face, seeing the human emotions, the feelings he was trying to understand and express, clearly visible to her. She sighed and looked over at, hum, Sarah. "This is crazy…" She whispered as she gazed at the small female that had captured her best friend's 'heart'. She shook her head slightly and looked back at Sam. "Do you have a plan for her…" she gestured to the sofa. "How are you going to protect her?"

"I just won't tell anyone, just keep her here…" Sam responded uncertainly, knowing he really hadn't thought through how he would protect her.

"I know now … I'll have to tell Snow … I can't not tell him…" Sunny trailed off.

"Wh…" Sam knew the answer. He knew any Soul would tell. This is not something, especially partners, wouldn't tell each other. Much as he wanted to, he couldn't ask her not to say anything to Snow. Even if he did, she couldn't promise him that. He didn't know what to do, to say. He couldn't think of a plan. He promised Sarah he would protect her, keep her safe, now, the cold reality was overwhelming. Sam felt his entire being emotionally collapse in on him. A wave of fear, physical nausea, and cold sweats flowed over his body. He turned away from Sunny and stepped slowly over to the small human he loved. Knelling down beside her, he picked up her hand as he looked at her calm face; the slow gentle breathes causing a slight movement of her chest. The human emotions were more than he could stand as he leaned in, moving his head down against the small warm hand he held. "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…" The silver being that was Sings Above The Mountains couldn't control the outpouring of human emotion manifested by a physical catch and then a constriction of his throat. A gasping sound, soon there was a quiet sob, followed by tears.

Suddenly, after a few seconds, Sings stopped the sobs and the tears. He pulled himself tightly together by the edge of the sofa, wrapped his arms around his body, closed his eyes, lowered his chin to his chest and went absolutely ridged and silent.

Sunny stood over the scene dumbfounded. She was torn with confusion and uncertainty. Sings' reaction was at first surprising then as she realized the deep feelings he apparently had for the human female, she tried to understand. Suddenly, she saw his entire demeanor change. She didn't understand what had caused the change. She stepped over to him and touched his shoulder. "Sings, I…" Sings cringed away slightly from her touch. Sunny straighten up and looked at Sings for a moment, not sure what he was doing, then she knew. She had never seen it. He had told her once, briefly, she couldn't remember why it had even come up in conversation. She stood frozen staring, staring at mourning. Mourning … in the way of the bats, his last world.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

A/N: The story ends here. The canon of Stephenie's host world allows no other options for captured adult humans.


End file.
